


Die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt

by Chiemseekatze



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-05-28 19:08:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 81,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6341584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiemseekatze/pseuds/Chiemseekatze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Voldemort returned in book 4, Prof. McGonagall decides to ask an old friend for help. 15 years have passed since Dahlia died, so when a owl reaches New Orleans, Elijah gladly comes to the rescue.<br/>And while Hermione tries to figure out the secrets of their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Voldemort is looking for an ally to make the fight even again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A mysterious guest

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously I don't own Originals, Vampire Diaries or Harry Potter. 
> 
> This story takes place 15 years after the end of season 2 of the Originals and at the start of Harry's 5th schoolyear.  
> Obviously that creates a bit of a problem for the timeline. To keep things as easy as possible, I will keep any dates given in Flashbacks of TVD or TO, but will also stick with the timeline from the Harry Potter wikia. And let's just pretend they had whatever technology we (or the originals) use now, back in the 90s.
> 
> I planned the whole story before the start of the 3rd season of the Originals, so my background story doesn't take into account whatever we might learn from Flashbacks there.  
> A big thanks to ElejahMikaelson who agreed to beta-read my story!

_ Summer holidays before Order of the Phoenix  
_

_ Hermione: _

 

"Oh, Ron, come on, hurry up! I don't want to stand here all evening!" I told him, annoyed, when he and Harry started another water-splashing fight, the dishes completely forgotten.

We've been staying at number 12 Grimmauld Place for some weeks, but now the summer holidays were nearing their end and we only had one week left.

Since Harry's hearing, things have become about as quiet as it can ever be at the headquarters of a secret organization. Members of the order came and went, meetings were being held and plans were made for fighting Voldemort. But Harry, Ron and I weren't involved in any of that and Mrs. Weasley kept us busy, cleaning up the house, which was always interrupted by Fred and George playing pranks on every victim they could find.

Overall, I was still quite happy that I'd chosen to spend the summer here with my friends instead of sitting in our house near London alone all day, while my parents are at work.

At the moment, Harry, Ron and I were cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, while the adults were preparing the sitting room for the big order meeting, which will take place later this evening.

"What is so special about today's meeting anyway? We were cleaning the house the whole day long!" Ron complained, for the 100th time.

"Maybe they found a new lead concerning the weapon? You know, the one Voldemort is after. I mean, surely they have to make some progress." Harry mentioned his favorite theory again. I just sighed and went back to washing the dishes. Oh how I miss dishwashers!

"Yeah, but mom was like  _ super _ stressed to get that one room ready, do you think someone will stay here overnight?"

"Seems so, but that must be someone very important for your mom to make such a fuss about it. Normally the guys from the order just take the small guest room on the second floor. Must be someone really special, considering that we had to spend the last three days cleaning and decorating that big room next to Sirius'..."

At that moment, we heard the front door open and the distant voices of Moody and Dumbledore talking to the others.

Molly entered the kitchen, looking around critically. "You aren't even finished yet? What were you doing all that time? And how did you manage to get everything so wet?! Doesn't matter, I'll do the rest with magic. You can go up to your rooms now. AND STAY UP THERE, do you hear me? No sneaking around this time, trying to eavesdrop. That goes for you too!" She shouted to where Fred was just coming into the kitchen, looking for something.

"But mom, I'm already of age and I don't understand why you won't tell us anything." He started protesting, instantly.

"NO FRED, I MEAN IT, NO LEAVING YOUR ROOMS! And now go, I have to finish cleaning this up, before the rest of the guests arrive." She shooed us out of the room, suddenly looking nervous. She tried to do a cleaning spell, which only made the dishes drop in the sink, splattering water everywhere. "Oh gosh, why does that have to happen now? Oh well, no one will enter the kitchen anyway... Why are you still standing here? Go!" She ordered us again and went to greet Prof. McGonagall, who just came through the front door.

Quickly, we climbed the stairs and sat down in Fred and George's room, where Ginny and George were already waiting.

"What's the matter with her? She seems so nervous and stressed today." I voiced my thoughts. Mrs. Weasley had spent the entire day running around, double checking every room; nearly burning down the kitchen when she tried to make dinner.

"Yeah, I know, must be some really special guests here today... What a shame we won't see them..." George replied, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, looking at us.

Suddenly everyone looked expectantly at me, waiting for me to decide.

"Oh…well, one look won't kill us, I guess, but after that we'll come right back here." I was curious too, after all.

Ten minutes later, we were standing, hidden, on the first floor, looking down on the entrance hall. Apparently the whole order was here today. They all went into the sitting room, which Molly and Sirius had prepared.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. And of course Mrs. Black started screaming at once about bloodtraitors and mudbloods being in her house. Sirius and Prof. Lupin went and tried to close the curtains again, while Prof. Dumbledore went to answer the door, Prof. McGonagall trailing behind him, waiting at the other end of the room, looking slightly weary. Some of the others also peeked out of the sitting room curiously, all wanting to catch a glimpse of the newcomer. Ron leaned forward a bit more, nearly falling, but Fred caught him at the last moment.

Dumbledore opened the door and everyone seemed to hold their breath. The only thing that could be heard were the (very loud) screams of Mrs. Black. ("ALL THESE THIVES AND SCUM YOU DISGRACE FOR A SON LET RUN AROUND IN OUR HOUSE!")

Outside stood a good looking man in his late twenties, wearing a black muggle suit.

His eyes scanned the room quickly and after a long glance at Prof. Lupin his gaze settled directly on us. A shiver ran down my spine. Something about that gaze made me want to run far away in the other direction. After a long moment, he turned his attention to Prof. Dumbledore and politely offered his hand.

"Professor Dumbledore, I would imagine. I'm very pleased to meet you. I have heard quite a lot of stories about you."

"Welcome, Mr. Mikaelson. Those stories can't even come close to those they tell about you." Prof. Dumbledore chuckled and gestured for the man to follow him into the sitting room, where the other order members quickly hurried off to. Only Prof. McGonagall had remained.

The man looked slightly annoyed and didn't even try to enter the room. "Who is the owner of this house? I'm afraid I need to be invited in." He explained to Dumbledore, apologetically.

"Oh of course, I'm sorry, I forgot. Sirius? Would you be so nice?" Sirius gave up trying to shut up his mother and went to the door.

He seemed to be confused for a moment, but then his face lit up in understanding.

"Oh yeah, sure, come in." He offered, smiling.

Suddenly there was silence. Mrs. Black had shut up all of a sudden. Everyone looked puzzled and turned to see her. Did Prof. Lupin manage to close the curtains alone?

But there she was, curtains still open. But she no longer looked angry and disgusted but instead she was white as a ghost looking horror-struck at Mr. Mikaelson, then at Sirius.

"What have you done? Do you want us all to d..." Her voice was only a whisper now and Prof. Lupin used it to his advantage and shut the curtains.

Mr Mikaelson seemed unimpressed and entered the entrance hall, going to stand before Prof. McGonagall. Suddenly a small smile broke out on his face.

"Hello, Minerva. It's good to see you again. You look absolutely stunning in that robe." He complimented her green dress robe, took her hand and placed a small kiss on her knuckles.

Prof. McGonagall laughed and...was that a blush on her cheeks?

"Still the gentleman, I see. You have no idea how glad I am that you're here. You really don't look a day older than the last time. And I like your hair." She smiled back at him and then turned to lead him to the meeting. Before he entered the sitting room, he turned around one last time, looking back at us, his eyebrow raised disapprovingly, then he was gone.

We quickly left our hiding spot and went back to Fred and George's room.

Once the door was closed, the questions started.

"Who do you think that was?" Ron started, excited. "Did he see us? Do you think he'll tell mom? And where does he know McGonagall from? What's his name again? Mickysen?"

"He's called MIKAELSON, Ron. Honestly, how can you not remember that?" I answered, a bit annoyed. But, somehow, that name rang some bell.

" _ Oh, I'm sorry _ , but I was a little bit distracted!" He replied sarcastically. "Didn't you notice how creepy he was? How Mrs. Black reacted to him?! What kind of name is that anyway? Mikaelson?"

"I think it's Nordic, but I've also heard it somewhere before, I just don't know where!" I told him, frustrated at being unable to remember.

"You've heard it before? Maybe he's some kind of celebrity or working for the ministry. Maybe he's an auror like Moody?" Harry speculated, eagerly.

"No, I don't think so, he was wearing muggle clothes. Do you think he's a muggle?" Ginny asked thoughtfully.

"I don't think he's either, or Mrs. Black wouldn't have reacted like that. That was scary!" Fred argued, immediately George joined in.

"I know what you mean, she even insults Dumbledore and McGonagall whenever she gets the chance. Judging by her reaction, he must be powerful!"

"Nah, she probably just had a heart attack that Sirius let a muggle into the house."

"You think he's a muggle?"

"Well, the fuss everyone made, you could think he is the minister himself, but no one of us has ever heard the name. So he must be muggle celebrity. That's where Hermione has heard the name." Everyone was looking at me questioningly now. I closed my eyes and tried to remember where I've heard the name before, but came up with nothing.

"But then where would he know McGonagall from? Did you see how they looked at each other? I mean he's really hot and all, but isn't she like twice his age at least?" Ginny added without thinking and then blushed when she saw Fred and George smirking. "What? It's true, he looks great! I'm sure Hermione agrees!" She defended herself. I just nodded, still lost in thought.

We were interrupted by footsteps coming up the stairs.

"That's mom, let's go in our room." Ginny whispered and tugged me along.

We spent the rest of the night speculating about the mysterious man, before we finally decided to go to sleep.

xxx

The next morning I woke when Ginny pulled away my covers.

"Come on Hermione, you've slept enough, let's go get breakfast!" She urged me on, already fully dressed. She seemed to nearly explode with excitement.

"What's the matter with you?" I asked her, still half asleep.

"Well, seeing as we spent days renovating another room, I think that guy from yesterday might have stayed overnight. Come on, hurry up, I want to meet him, maybe he'll answer some of our questions!"

I quickly rose and dressed, then let myself be pulled down the stairs by Ginny. It was still early, so none of the boys were awake yet.

As we entered the kitchen, we saw Mrs. Weasley was busy preparing breakfast, while Sirius was sitting next to Prof. Lupin at the kitchen counter, reading the prophet. Prof. Lupin just stared at Mr. Mikaelson suspiciously, looking as if he could be attacked at any time. Mr. Mikaelson was leaning elegantly against the kitchen wall, a Whiskey glass with a strange red liquid in his left hand. Was that beetroot or tomato juice? For breakfast? Urgh. Disgusting. Ah well, it had taken me time to get used to pumpkin juice too. He had turned to us, when he had heard us enter, his gaze was now fixed on me. He noticed me staring at his drink with distaste and smirked amused.

Now Molly saw us standing in the doorway.

"Ah, girls, you're up. Did you sleep well? We have a guest for the next week, until school starts again." She gestured to Mr. Mikaelson, not giving us a chance to answer.

"Hello. I'm Elijah." He introduced himself slowly and thoughtfully. "You are Hermione Granger, aren't you?" He asked, looking directly at me. I was baffled.

"Yeah, that's right. Do we know each other from somewhere?" I asked him curiously.

He smiled and seemed to think about what to say. "Not exactly, no. I used to be very close to your parents. But the last time I saw you, you were still a small baby."

Okay, WHAT?! He was friends with my parents? I knew all their friends. And they were all the same. Normal, muggle, upper middle class people. Ordinary.

Nothing about this guy was ordinary.

He didn't really seem to belong in this chaotic kitchen, with Mrs. Weasley, Sirius and Prof. Lupin. Something about him stood apart. It was not only his expensive suit or his good looks. There seemed to be an air about him, that made something inside me scream that he was dangerous and evil, and Prof. Lupin definitely seemed to feel the same. He looked ready to attack Elijah the second he even looked at us wrong. But another part of me felt like I could trust him completely, the way he looked at me told me that he would never hurt me and protect me with his life. That was strange. Who was he?

No friend of my parents knew about magic and surely none of them would show up at the headquarters of the order... But I've heard the name before, so maybe what he said was true, maybe my parents mentioned him once.

While I tried to figure Elijah out, he had started talking to Ginny. But every now and then he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.

"... so why are you here?" She questioned him, curiously.

"Ginny! Leave our guest alone. And help me set the table for breakfast." Mrs. Weasley berated her and put a pile of plates into her arms. Ginny mumbled something and went to put the plates on the table. Elijah just took a sip of his drink and smiled.

"Oh, it is quite alright, Mrs. Weasley. I'm an old friend of your Professor McGonagall and, now that Voldemort has returned, she asked me to help protect Hogwarts and fight him. Since Professor Dumbledore couldn't find another - what did he say - 'competent' person, who was willing to take the job, he convinced me to become your new 'Defense Against the Dark Arts' teacher." He explained. Prof. Lupin's suspicious look turned angry.

"They're letting YOU teach? You're kidding right?! It's bad enough that Sirius let you into this house, now they want to let you into a whole castle full of kids? Doesn't he know who you are? Doesn't he know how dangerous that is? How long will it take until you kill someone, huh? And I thought Dumbledore was reckless when he hired me!" He growled at Elijah.

We all stared at him appalled. What was wrong with him? He acted as if Elijah were some kind of monster or something. Sirius put a hand on his shoulder to restrain him. He looked ready to attack Elijah at any moment. Elijah looked at him murderously, his eyes gleaming with an evil I've never seen before. He slowly pushed himself from the wall and made his way over to Lupin, like a predator ready to slaughter his prey. I stood there frozen, unable to move.

"Careful, little werewolf, or it will only take a few seconds and I could crush you with my little finger. I advise you to show a little respect." He was standing very close to Lupin now, staring him down. No sound could be heard in the room. All of us were holding our breaths. When Lupin adverted his gaze, Elijah smirked and put his glass down on the table. "Now, if you would excuse me." He smiled at us pleasantly and left the room without another word. The tension left the room instantly and we all visibly relaxed.

What was all that about? That guy was scary!

The rest of the breakfast went on in silence, until the boys all showed up, but Mrs. Weasley put a stop to any conversation about Elijah, always glancing worriedly at Prof. Lupin.

So I was left to my thoughts about our new teacher, who got more mysterious every second. How had he figured out Prof. Lupin was a werewolf? Had someone told him? And why did Lupin look as if he really hated the guy? Was he really that dangerous? Something told me that he was. He really had looked ready to kill Lupin. But still, he was a member of the Order, wasn't he? If Dumbledore trusted him, I would too.

But he also said he's a friend of my parents. And teaching at Hogwarts? So he couldn't be a muggle. Did my parents know that? No, they would have told me I think. MY PARENTS! Of course! I would just write them and ask them what they knew about him.

I wolfed down the rest of my breakfast, asked Harry if I could borrow Hedwig and sprinted upstairs to send the letter.

After I sent the letter, I went downstairs to help the others clean another room of this horrible house.

While we were cleaning I told the boys what had happened at breakfast.

"He fought with Lupin? And he's going to be the new teacher? Isn't he a bit young for that? Well I suppose he can't be any worse than Lockhart." Ron said, cheerfully.

"And he's even better looking than him." Ginny added and we all started laughing.

"Maybe you should go and ask him for a date while he isn't our teacher yet." Fred playfully suggested and Ginny threw her sponge across the room, with a splash it landed in his face. We others all started laughing even harder.

"Okay, well, up until now, we've had a guy with You-know-who on his head, a fraud, a werewolf and a deatheater as our teachers. What's next? A vampire? Or maybe a merman?" George joked.

"Oh come on, not even Dumbledore would do that!" I replied to his suggestions.

Absolutely ridiculous.


	2. Getting started

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their first lesson with Elijah

_ Early September _

_ Hermione: _

 

The rest of the summer holidays went by very quickly and we didn't see much more of Elijah. Molly had kept us busy renovating the house and he spent most of his days 'speaking to some contacts of his', as Sirius told us. We only ever caught some glimpses of him at breakfast, after that he left the house and only came back late at night.

One day we all went shopping together. Of course I went through some of the books already, and even the boys opened our DADA textbook, to see what kind of things Elijah would teach us. It was called Defensive Magical Theory and was the most boring book I've ever read. The author didn't even attempt to explain how to do some charms. It was only theory! How would that help us with Voldemort on the loose? And honestly we all expected our new mysterious teacher's lessons to be interesting. Well, maybe he really was a muggle and would teach us only about the theory? But muggles couldn't even  _ see _ Hogwarts, could they?

We were sitting in the great hall with Neville, Parvati and Lavender. Some minutes ago, Nearly Headless Nick came to join us and some first graders, who were chatting with him happily.

Most of the people around us were whispering about the change at the teachers table though. Elijah, or I guess I should call him Professor Mikaelson now, looked really out of place in his dark muggle suit between all the other teachers with their dress robes. But he apparently didn't notice as he seemed to be in deep conversation with Prof. McGonagall, who was sitting next to him. He was smiling, somehow seductively, and McGonagall started laughing and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. Were they flirting?!

Parvati and Lavender seemed to have noticed too.

"Do you see how they look at each other? What is going on there?"

"I really don't know. What does he see in her? I mean, she's ancient and he's like what? Thirty, tops?"

They went on like this and I just shook my head and turned my attention back to the teachers table.

There was also a new witch, she was small, wore a pink cardigan and an absolutely absurd pink hat. If it was even possible, she looked even more out of place than Elijah did.

"Who's  _ that _ ?" I asked, honestly confused. Elijah was teaching Defense Against The Dark Arts, wasn't he?

"She works for the ministry. She was at my hearing." Harry unexpectedly answered my question.

She what? That couldn't be good, her working for Fudge. What was she doing here then? Especially after spreading all that hatred about Harry and Dumbledore. I was getting a really bad feeling about that.

Prof. Dumbledore stood up and waited until the hall had quietened down before he started the announcement.

"As many of you have already noticed, we have two new faces here this year. I'm very pleased to tell you, that Professor Mikaelson has agreed to be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Elijah looked up, let his gaze sweep over the hall and I saw Malfoy laughing with Crabbe and Goyle. Apparently he was making fun of Elijah's muggle clothes. Elijah seemed to notice too and he glared at him. His eyes were cold and evil. I shuddered. Something about him was always putting me on edge. Malfoy turned back to the teachers, returned Elijah's look for a second, and then shut up, intimidated.

Elijah nodded to all of the students and Dumbledore continued.

"Lord Elijah is the new Defense teacher? Now Prof. Dumbledore has officially lost his mind." Sir Nicholas suddenly muttered quietly. We turned to him surprised.

" _...Furthermore, this year, we have a guest from the ministry of magic..." _

"What are you talking about? Lord Elijah? Do you know him?" Harry questioned Nick eagerly.

" _...Mrs. Umbridge, who, as a great inquisitor, will try to help improve the quality of your lessons..." _

"Of course I know him! Never thought I would see him as a teacher at Hogwarts thought. Did I ever tell you the story of how I was beheaded? It was in 1492 and..." He started.

" _...I'm sure you will welcome both of them with open arms..." _

"Yeah Nick, you have told us like a hundred times." Ron interrupted Nick, before he could tell us the long story of his death again. Nick huffed and then left offended without another word.

"Ron! Did you have to be so rude?" I scolded him quietly, annoyed that Ron's big mouth had ruined our chance at learning more about the mysterious Elijah.

"What? It's true, isn't it?" He defended himself and I just shook my head, then turned my attention back to Dumbledore.

"...The quidditch tryouts..." At this point he was interrupted by Umbridge coughing, who then started holding a speech about the intentions of the ministry, which nearly nobody seemed to listen to.

When she was finally finished we went up to our dorms (after I explained the meaning of her words to the boys, honestly, why don't they ever listen?!)

After Ron and I showed the first graders the way to their dorms, I went to bed as well. Trying to ignore Lavender and Parvati talking about Elijah and Mrs. Umbridge's horrible hat.

xxx

After lunch on Monday, we all went upstairs to the third floor for our first DADA class. When we entered, we found the room completely empty. All the desks and chairs were gone, instead there were some mats on the floor. We had arrived early, the only other student who was there yet was Neville, who had sat down on one of the mats. We sat down next to him.

"Okay, so apparently we're going to learn something useful after all." Harry exclaimed happily. This really didn't look like anything that would be covered in 'Defensive Magical Theory'. Slowly the rest of the class came in. Everyone talked excitedly. Most of them also sat down on the mats or the floor, only Malfoy and his goons rather chose to stand. Oh why did we have to have this lessons with the Slytherins?

Suddenly the door opened again and Elijah entered the room. He was wearing black suit trousers and a white button-down shirt. Slowly, he went to stand in front of the class.

"Good morning. As I am sure you all already know, I am your new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. First of all, I refuse to even consider using these books, which the Ministry of Magic have deemed appropriate as your textbooks this year. Feel free to read those if you would like, but you will not be needing them in my class." He informed us, while looking at the books we had lying beside us with distaste.

"Instead, our curriculum will be quiet different this year. It has been brought to my attention that you all seem rather helpless without your wands. So I am here to try and change that." He continued to explain, smirking. Once again, I was slightly surprised by the way he acted. He looked so young, but something made him seem so much older. After he'd said that everyone started whispering, excited.

"So you're going to teach us wandless magic? Is it even possible to control that?" Harry asked aloud.

"Not exactly, no." He seemed to be thinking. "We will do magic later this year. For now, we will start with some muggle fighting lessons. This way, at least you will not die instantly when disarmed during a confrontation." He explained, grinning widely and most of the class looked at him, as if he had lost his mind. While some of the Gryffindors seemed to become excited once again, the Slytherins looked disgusted.

Malfoy instantly started complaining.

"We're going to do muggle fighting? How will that ever help us against a wizard with a wand? If my father hears about..." Suddenly he was standing with his back against the wall, Elijah was standing in front of him, swirling Malfoy's wand casually in his right hand. His other hand had ahold of Malfoy's chin in what seemed to be a hard and painful grip and was pushing him back against the wall. How did he do this? He really was fast!

"Lesson one, Mr. Malfoy: Always be on your guard." He told him quietly, pressing him against the wall, still as calm as always, but there was an evil glint in his eyes that frightened me. Malfoy struggled against his hold, but gave up as he couldn't move Elijah's hand, even the slightest bit. As he did, Elijah let go of his chin and let him fall to the floor. Malfoy stumbled as his feet touched the ground again, but he didn't fall. Elijah gave him one more warning glance, offered him back his wand and went to stand on one of the mats in the middle of the room. Malfoy watched him carefully. He seemed quiet subdued and had shut up for now.

"He sounds a bit like Moody, don't you think so? 'Always be on your guard' and all that.", Ron mocked, quietly.

"But how the hell did he do that? He's scary." Harry wondered, but froze up and stopped talking, when he noticed Elijah staring at him in annoyance.

"Gentlemen, if you would be so kind!" The professor seemed to be annoyed and Harry stopped talking at once.

"Now, I want you all to find a partner and then each pair to go stand on one of the mats." He told us. Oh no, I absolutely hated it when teachers told us to work in pairs! Mostly because Harry and Ron nearly always decided to go together and I had to work with Neville. And of course, today was no exception. Not that I didn't like Neville, but he was always so prone to accidents. Slowly I made my way over to him, when Elijah stopped me.

"Hermione? I wondered if you might help me with the demonstrations?" He asked politely and I gladly went to stand beside him. Elijah unbuttoned his cuffs and started to roll up his sleeves. "You may also want to take off your robes, as they will only get in the way. And please put away your wands." He stated and waited until I had taken my robe off and put it on the floor, next to the mat, my wand lying beside it. Underneath I was wearing jeans and a white Henley shirt. For some reason Elijah smirked and shook his head amused when he saw it. I looked down on me, but couldn't find a stain or something.

"Okay, now one of you will try to attack, while the other one will attempt to block the offense. Please do try to be careful and not injure each other. If you do, Madam Pomfrey provided us with some healing potions, but I would rather not have to use them." He added. In my opinion, that was a very unrealistic wish, especially with Neville in this class.

"Hermione, would you?" He encouraged me. I was supposed to try and hit him? A teacher? What would I do if I managed? I couldn't hurt a teacher, or I was going to be expelled! But I guess it was okay, if he told me to? I also didn't fail to notice that he called me Hermione while he had addressed Malfoy by his surname. But that was probably due to him knowing my parents and myself as a baby. Well, I definitely wasn't a baby now! I thought back to the time I had punched Draco in our third year and smiled. His eyes widened slightly as he saw this and he mumbled something that sounded a lot like: '...like Rebekah.' Who was that? Maybe I reminded Elijah of her? Okay, enough with the thinking. I pulled back my fist, focused on his nose and tried to punch him lightly. He caught my fist in his hand before it reached his face.

"You don't have to hold yourself back. Don't be afraid, you can't hurt me. Let's try this again, shall we?" Oh really now? I scoffed in my head. I couldn't hurt him? Mr. Almighty, mysterious, new teacher? I tried again, this time a bit harder. Again he blocked my attack, seemingly without any effort. I heard Malfoy snicker. He already seemed to have forgotten how Elijah had disarmed him.

"You hesitate too much. If you are afraid to hurt me, let yourself become angry. But stay in control, concentrate." He advised quietly and I tried to follow his instructions. I thought about Malfoy and imagined trying to hit him, instead of Elijah.

I threw another punch and again he caught it, but this time he smiled at me. "Impressive. Now try punching more than once, kick or shove me, do whatever you can think of." He was impressed? I beamed at him and then attacked him again, trying to surprise him and finally manage to hit him. It was no use. He blocked every single one of my punches and kicks. I was getting tired and frustrated and stopped to get some breathe. He smiled.

"You have to concentrate. Fighting is rhythm, there's a music, there's a meter and there is a pattern. Concentrate on that and go with it." I tried to do as he'd said and it went a bit better now.

"Very good." He smiled again and then turned around to the others. "When you attempt to block your opponents attacks or to get out of the way, don't watch your opponents hands or feet. Look into their eyes. The eyes will  _ always _ betray their moves. Thank you very much for your help, Hermione, you can partner with Mr. Longbottom now, while I will try and help the others. Twenty points to Gryffindor." I grinned and went back to stand beside Neville. Slowly, everyone started with the exercise. Trying to fight with Neville was, of course, way easier than with Elijah. But it also was a lot more dangerous as Neville managed to hit me three times while trying to block one of my attacks. And, while Elijah had told me not to hold anything back with him, I had to be really careful with Neville, because, most of the time, he was too slow to block me.

Elijah went through the class and gave advice, sometimes partnering with someone to demonstrate something. He always played the defensive part though. When he watched me and Neville fight he smiled at me proudly. "That's good. Although, you seemed to have established a certain routine, try to add some variation to your attacks. Surprise your opponent." He told me critically. I realized he was right. I was always using the same moves. I went to change that and Neville became even more helpless than before.

We spent the rest of the lesson doing this exercise, changing parts every now and then. Afterwards, Elijah let anyone who had gotten hurt drink a bit of the healing potion (which also healed my split lip, where Neville had accidentally hit me when he was trying to block one of my punches).

The Gryffindors had Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs next. Once we'd reached the classroom, we all sat down silently, too tired to talk much, while the Hufflepuffs tried to question us about our first DADA lesson.

When Prof. McGonagall came in, she looked at us confused.

"What happened to you?! You all look as if you had been in a fight!" She exclaimed, horrified. I looked around me and realized she was right. All of the Gryffindors were sweaty and tired, our hairs ruffled, some still hadn't put their robes back on and Ron had his right sleeve ripped off. On top of that, four people had blood on their faces, because the healing potion might have healed us, but not one of us had thought about cleaning our faces. To sum it up, we looked horrible.

"We just had our first Defense lesson with Prof. Mikaelson and did muggle fighting techniques." I explained, when nobody else spoke.

"Well I guess that does explain it. Did he compare it to music again? When he taught me, I used to think he should have become a musician." She remembered, apparently lost in a memory.

"He taught you muggle fighting too?" Lavender immediately started questioning her. She finally seemed to have forgotten her broken nail, which she had been staring at devastated for the last few minutes.

"That's not really any of your business I think. Now, in today's lesson..." Prof. McGonagall started but Parvati interrupted her.

"Oh, please, professor. We really want to know. Besides, we're still much too exhausted to concentrate anyway." She begged and Prof. McGonagall looked at her critically and then sighed, defeated.

"Ohm well, fine. Otherwise you'll keep nagging me for the rest of the lesson." She agreed, amused. "But afterwards I want your full attention!" We all nodded happily. Glad for any excuse to delay the lesson. Besides, it was an interesting question and might give us a bit more insight of who Elijah might be.

"I've first met Elijah some years ago, when he came to me with a question. He was trying to find a way to kill one of the most powerful creatures on earth, Klaus, a Vampire-werewolf hybrid"

"A Hybrid? That's possible?"

"Yes, Mr. Macmillan, it is. Although, for a thousand years, he was the only one that existed. Anyway, this monster had taken Elijah's family from him and Elijah wanted revenge and to protect the rest of the world from Klaus. But Klaus was too strong and Elijah didn't know how to kill him, so he came to England and asked us for help. I agreed and spent two years with him, looking for a way to kill an immortal Hybrid."

"Did you find a way?" We were all completely absorbed in her story by now. It sounded just like a fairytale. Immortal Hybrid? I might have to look that one up in the library later.

"I'm coming to that, Miss Abbot. Now please stop interrupting me if you want to hear the story." She scolded.

"During that year we met all sort of creatures, vampires, werewolves, some witches who used rituals and ancestral magic, but some of them were not fond of us at all and we got into quite a fare of fights. And, during one of our fights, a vampire knocked my wand away and nearly killed me. Elijah staked him and saved my life, but afterwards decided to teach me a bit of muggle fighting and how to kill vampires without my wand. I must say it came in handy once or twice." She seemed to remember and smiled softly.

"So what happened? Did you manage to kill Klaus? What happened to Elijah?"

"We didn't. We found out, that the only way for us to kill him was to weaken him by breaking some curse, which had been placed on him. Mostly known as the sun and moon curse. But, to break it, you would need some very rare ingredients, which were nearly impossible to find. Elijah decided to try and look for another way, but when I offered to go with him, he declined because he was afraid Klaus would kill me if he found out what we were doing." McGonagall looked a bit sad now.

"As far as I know, Elijah eventually found a way to break the sun and moon curse, but when he had the chance to kill Klaus, he rather made a deal with him to get his family back."

"So no happy end at all?" Parvati asked disappointed.

"Not every story has one of those Miss Patil. But, as far as I know, Elijah got his family back in the end. That's all that matters, in my opinion." Prof. McGonagall finished her story, leaving us all thinking.

"Now let's get to work, shall we?" And, just like that, she started with the lesson.

At dinner we all sat down together discussing the events of the day.

"At first I really thought that muggle fighting would be useless, except for defending myself against Dudley and his friends. But somehow McGonagall's story got me thinking. Maybe it will really save our lives at one point."

"Oh come on Harry, it might be useful for fighting vampires, but do you honestly think it will help you in a fight against Voldemort or his deatheaters?" Ron complained.

"Personally I think it is a good idea to teach us that and all, but maybe it would be good to learn some new spells too. They are more effective and, except for last year, we never really did learn defensive spells that you could use in a duel or battle." I explained my concerns.

"Well maybe we will do those later. Thought I really begin to doubt it. Have you ever seen Prof. Mikaelson with a wand? I haven't." Ron replied, thoughtfully.

"I'm sure he has one. He has to. Dumbledore wouldn't hire a muggle. Unless of course..." I trailed off, thinking hard about it.

"What's it Hermione?"

"Well, it sounded pretty stupid when I read about it some years ago. But, after McGonagall's story, I think the book might have been accurate after all. And it would explain  _ everything _ ! Why Lupin seemed to hate him. Why he doesn't seem to use magic. How he could disarm Malfoy so quickly and why he was looking for a way to kill Klaus!" I babbled as the realization finally hit me. I had figured out the riddle that was Elijah Mikaelson!

"What are you talking about Hermione?" Harry asked confused. I noticed that he and Ron were looking at me as if I had lost my mind. I let my gaze wander to the teachers table, where Elijah sat. He looked back at me, eyes narrowed worriedly. He seemed to have guessed that I had found out his secret.

"Oh come on boys, isn't it obvious?" I was a bit annoyed. They really were slow sometimes!

"No, Hermione, it isn't. Just tell us, please."

"He's a  _ hunter _ , Ron!"


	3. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione explains her theory, fights with Trelawney and talks with Elijah about her parents

"A hunter? You mean someone who kills animals? That doesn't really make sense, Hermione." Harry pointed out, confused. For a moment I tried to imagine Elijah, wearing a robin hood styled costume, crouching somewhere in the forest, trying to aim a riffle. I snickered.

"No, not someone who hunts animals! I'm talking about a hunter for supernatural things, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, demons and such. Sometimes they also try to kill evil witches and wizards. That's why he's here. He's after You-Know-Who." I exclaimed before I looked up to the teachers table. The worried look had left Elijah's face and now he seemed to be amused about something and turned to talk to McGonagall. I watched as Mrs. Umbridge stood up and went in our direction.

"But... Hermione... a muggle doesn't stand the tiniest chance against You-Know-Who! Even  _ Dumbledore _ couldn't beat him." Ron stuttered.

Harry seemed to disagree. "Yes, but Dumbledore wouldn't have asked him for help if there's nothing he can do against Voldemort. He must know a way to kill him again. Or maybe he knows something about that weapon he's after." He speculated excitedly and I quickly tried to shush him, but it was too late. Everyone around us was staring at us, they had all flinched as Harry mentioned Voldemort and now they looked at us as if we were crazy. Suddenly I heard a strange little coughing sound behind me. I shuddered and turned around to look right at Mrs. Umbridge's face.

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter, but I thought I heard you talk about You-Know-Who. Please talk about something else. You have frightened your poor classmates and You-Know-Who has been dead for 14 years, so there is absolutely no need to talk about him, is there?" She informed him, with a much too sweet voice.

"But he isn't dead anymore! He came back! I saw it!" Harry replied angrily and I mentally slapped my head. I was sure it was not the brightest idea to tell that to a ministry official. But I guess Harry was just fed up with everyone believing him and Dumbledore to be lunatics.

"Detention Mr. Potter. My office this evening, 5 o'clock." Mrs. Umbridge smiled at him.

"But I'm only telling the truth!" Harry shouted. By now, everyone in the great hall was watching us.

"Harry, just shut up, you're only making it worse." I tried to stop him, but he didn't listen. "No, I'm sick of everyone believing the prophet and... "

"Mr. Potter, would you come into my office? I think we should talk." he was interrupted by Prof. McGonagall, who had made her way to us. Harry mumbled something, but didn't want to argue with her, so he packed his stuff and followed her out of the hall. Umbridge watched them angrily and then went after them. I sighed. Couldn't Harry have shut his mouth? It was only the first day back at school and he had already gotten detention. I turned back to Ron and asked him if he wanted to go to the library with me to start on our homework, but he just mumbled something about taking an evening walk before going to bed, so I went alone.

xxx

_ Dear Hermione, _

_ How was your first day of school? _

_ We are so proud that you're a prefect now! Don't worry, you are perfect for that job and will do just fine! _

_ Things at work are going well, your Dad only got bitten twice in the last month! And there was that girl who lost consciousness when I started the drill, but, otherwise, nothing unusual. _

_ We hope your new teacher is nice and giving good lessons. You said he told you that he is friends with us, but, honestly, we have never heard the name. I even ran a Google search about him and came up with absolutely nothing. He's no one important in the world of the 'normal people', that's for sure. I wonder why he told you he knows us though. Maybe you should just go and ask him. _

_ We always love to read a letter from you! _

_ We love you, Mom and Dad _

_. _

I smiled and put the letter away. Hedwig stole a bit of my breakfast toast and then flew away.

"So what did your parents say? Where do they know Elijah from?" Harry inquired curiously and I shrugged.

"They don't know him. Never heard the name. He also isn't famous in the muggle world either. But as a hunter that would of course make sense."

"You still think he's a monster hunter? I don't know Hermione, he looks very rich. Do they get paid that much?"

"No Ron, monster hunter isn't a job you just apply for and then get a contract or something. Normal muggles don't believe in monsters so they won't appreciate the people hunting them down." I explained, amused.

"That's stupid. There are vampire hunters working for the ministry I think. They definitely do get paid. Maybe he's working for them." Ron said and went on with eating his toast.

"I don't think so. In the lesson, he didn't seem to be very fond of the ministry. I think I'll just go and talk to him after dinner, ask him why he lied about my parents. Maybe it's just a misunderstanding." I decided. Maybe then I would get some answers.

xxx

"Hey, Hermione! Wait up!" I turned around and watched as Lavender tried to catch up with me. I was just on my way up to the library, where I wanted to catch up on some homework, seeing as I had a free period after lunch. Fifth year really was hell! When did the teachers expect us to do so much homework? Honestly, it was only the second day and the only subject we didn't have to write an essay for was DADA, obviously. I doubted there were any books about muggle fighting in the Hogwarts library.

"What's the problem, Lavender?" I asked her annoyed. We shared a dorm and normally got along okay, but especially in the first years in Hogwarts, Lavender and Parvati used to tease and mock me all the time about being a bookworm and 'not a real girl', as I spent all my time with Harry and Ron.

Since we got back after the summer, they were even worse to deal with than usual. They believed all the rubbish the prophet wrote and tried to persuade me to stop hanging out with a 'complete lunatic'. It was getting just as annoying as their usual gossiping and discussing and analyzing all the guys in the school (their new favorite being Elijah). I had given up on thinking we could ever be real friends ages ago. That didn't stop them from always wanting help with their homework, just like Harry and Ron. Why couldn't they all do their own stuff?

She had caught up with me now, panting a bit while walking beside me.

"Hi. Uhm, where are you going?"

"I'm heading to the library to do some homework." I answered her calmly.

"Oh, uhm, great, yeah, fantastic actually. So how are you?" I decided to stop her pathetic attempt at making small talk.

"What do you want, Lavender?"

"I don't want anything, I just wanted to talk to you, you know." She tried, but when she saw my raised eyebrows, she sighed.

"Oh well, okay. I wanted to ask you if you could maybe help me with my herbology essay. I really have no idea of the characteristics of vervain and how to properly grow it. I mean really? It's a pretty flower and all, but why did Prof. Sprout want to grow a whole greenhouse full of it? Does this thing even have any magical uses at all?"

"Not that I know of." I had wondered about that as well. Prof. Sprout really seemed to have turned crazy.

"Okay, we can research together, I still have to write that essay as well." I told Lavender and she smiled.

"Thanks Hermione!" We climbed the stairs and were just walking down the corridor to the library, when we saw Prof. Trelawney appear around the corner. I tried to avoid her by hiding in the next corridor, but Lavender was having none of that. She grabbed my sleeve and pulled me right in the direction of the crazy seer.

"Oh come on, Hermione. Don't act like that! She's really great. HI PROFESSOR!" She shouted and Prof. Trelawney looked up. Too late to flee now.

"Lavender, my dear. How glad I am to see you returned safely. I must say I was really worried if all of you would be back this year. I guess we got lucky again." Suddenly she noticed me standing next to Lavender. Her eyes went big and seemed to nearly fall out of their sockets.

"And you! Oh you poor, poor girl. That is not a bright future I see in those eyes! So much family drama. And all that darkness! You always had so much of it in you, even when you first entered my classroom. That's why you never succeeded in my class. Only pure wizards can obtain the Inner Eye." She shook her head sadly. Okay what? Only  _ pure _ wizards? So this racist bitch thought mudbloods couldn't do divination, huh? I was getting really angry now. I balled my hands to fists and tried to control the rage that started bubbling up from deep inside me.

"So you think I'm not good enough to be in your class? Well, guess what? I don't care at all! When did you ever make any right prediction? All you do is predicting someones death! HOW MANY OF THEM  _ REALLY _ DIED? You couldn't even see Cedric's death! Or did you see it and decided not to stop it? You're just a pathetic, stupid, attention seeking nut case, who was too incompetent to find any job except by pretending to be a fuc-"

"Hermione!" Lavender had interrupted my rant. "Calm down! What is wrong with you?" I closed my eyes, took deep breaths and counted to ten in my head, just as my dad had taught me to do whenever I got angry as a kid. When I felt a bit more under control, I snapped my eyes open again. Lavender looked as if I had completely lost it. Which was probably true. Prof. Trelawney, on the other hand, watched me curiously with her gigantic eyes.

"Oh yes, I see, poor girl indeed. Those anger issues must be horrible to deal with. But I dread there will happen so many worse things to you. You ally yourself with evil and that will destroy you I fear. You have to stay away from it. You have to leave. Flee from England. Go and hide somewhere where they won't find you and live a happy life. You will only find war and death and pain if you stay here. You will lose your life as well as your soul. And beware of the moon!" She took one last teary glance at me and then floated away from us, down the corridor. I didn't even have time to get angry again.

Lavender watched me in concern and I shook my head, annoyed.

"Oh come on, you don't believe that do you? What was that supposed to be about anyway? 'You ally yourself with evil'. She thinks I'll join You-Know-Who? Good chance at that." I chuckled bitterly and tried to get Trelawney's words out of my head. Something about them made me nervous.

"I don't know Hermione. Maybe she's right. Maybe you should leave England, before you get hurt." She told me worriedly and I stared at her.

"What are you talking about? You don't even believe that You-Know-Who is back! You just said so yesterday!" How typical of her to change her mind because of something Trelawney of all people, said.

"Hermione? Uhm..." Lavender started, clearly looking very uncomfortable. "I... I don't really think she was talking about You-Know-Who... I think... she might have been talking about Harry and Dumbledore? Didn't she say someth..."

"ARE YOU KIDDING? You think I should hide from Harry and Dumbledore because those two are evil? You are by far the most stupid person I know. And that counts in Trelawney as well. You know what? YOU CAN DO YOUR ESSAY ALONE!" I had lost the battle against my anger again. It was just too much. I tried hard to fight down the urge to hurt Lavender. What was wrong with me? I turned and stormed down the corridor and up the stairs until I stood in the empty prefect's bathroom. I started all the taps and watched as the pool filled with hot water and all kinds of bubbles. I went to the little counter at the end of the room and looked through it. It took a few minutes, but I finally found what I was looking for. It was a beautiful little glass bottle with some green bath salt that contained a strong calming drought, specially made for baths to take in through the skin. Percy had told me about this last year, said he always used it when the twins managed to get on his last nerve. I looked at it skeptically and felt my anger still burning hot inside me, my heart beating like crazy, ready to attack. I shrugged, went over to the pool and poured the whole content of the bottle into the water. It turned green and the room filled with a very pleasant scent. I took a breath and instantly felt calmer.

I took off my clothes, turned on some quiet, relaxing music and dimmed the lights. Then I climbed into the bath.

xxx

After dinner, I was standing in front of Elijah's office door. The bath had relaxed me immensely and I had felt very warm, comfortable and happy the rest of the day.

The door opened shortly after the second knock and Elijah smiled when he noticed me standing outside. He was wearing his usual suit. Honestly? Didn't he ever wear something else?

"Hermione. How may I help you?" He asked politely.

"Hello, professor. I wondered if you might have time to talk with me? I have a few questions you might be able to answer." I asked him politely.

"Of course. It would be my pleasure. Please do come in. Oh, and, please, just call me Elijah." He took a step back and gestured for me to come into his office. That annoying part of me, that always made me want to run in the other direction whenever I saw Elijah, came back and my heartbeat sped up. Maybe that was some instinct because I was a witch and he was a hunter? I took a deep breath and stepped into the office. Elijah looked at me curiously.

"No need to be so nervous. I don't bite. Not the students at least." He smirked amused and I chuckled slightly, wondering what he meant with that last statement.

I entered his office and looked around me. I haven't been in this office before, but from what I had heard from Harry, in Lockhart's days all the walls were plastered with his photos, Prof. Lupin tended to keep interesting creatures in glass boxes in here and when Barty Crouch jr. pretended to be Moody, the room was full of instruments to detect dark magic.

I doubted it ever looked like this. The room fit perfectly into the castle. It had a sofa and two comfortable looking armchairs arranged around a little coffee table in front of a fireplace where a warm fire was burning. On the other side there was a big wooden desk with two chairs.

In one corner was a short bar with lots of drinks and what looked to be a small wizard's refrigerator: a cupboard charmed to keep everything inside cool. There also was a big freezer box next to it. I wondered what was inside of that...

Elijah apparently had been reading before I interrupted him. On the coffee table a big book was lying, closed, and next to it sat an empty whiskey glass.

I turned to look at Elijah and he gestured towards the sofa and armchairs.  
"Please, take a seat. Would you like something to drink? A butter beer perhaps? Or I think I may also have some wine, or pumpkin juice." He offered and went to his fridge, while I walked over to the fireplace and sat down in one of the armchairs. It was really soft and I could totally cuddle up in it with a good book for a whole weekend.

"A butter beer would be great."

Elijah got two beers out, opened them and walked back to me. He drinks butter beer? I wouldn't have guessed that. He seemed to be too sophisticated for that. He gave me one of the beers, then sat down in the other armchair and looked at me expectantly. I took a sip of my butter beer and thought about how to start.

"I wrote my parents. And I told them that you said you are friends. I got their response today." I started to explain, but couldn't think about a polite way to ask him why they didn't know him. But he took that from me, when he started to speak.

"I see. And they inform you that they do not know me. You really are quite curious." He seemed to think about what to say. I blushed a bit. I knew I was horribly nosy, but he was very mysterious and that only made me more curious. Besides, every one of our former DADA teachers had had a very dark secret. We didn't need any bad surprises this year. Not with Voldemort on the loose.

"I didn't lie to you, when I said I know your parents. But Mr. and Mrs. Granger probably don't remember me. It was safer for them not to." He told me carefully. My mouth fell open.

"You oblivated them? Why?" I asked him, horrified. He had messed with my parents mind? Who else knew about that? He must have asked a wizard or witch to do the spell. I was still convinced that he himself couldn't do magic. Maybe Prof. McGonagall helped him. She said he had to leave England. No, she only met him years later, when he tried to fight Klaus. He wouldn't have done that as a teenager.

"Something like that." He smirked, amused, and then continued. "I couldn't risk my brother finding either of them. We were close to starting a war in New Orleans and it would have been far too dangerous for them to know me."

"A war? Against your own brother? Aren't you exaggerating a bit? I'm sure he wouldn't have hurt your friends." I was confused. Of course siblings fought sometimes. But a war? Like, did he mean with armies?

"Trust me, Hermione, there are things that you do not want to know about my family and this is one of them. My brother can be a very cruel person. And more than one friend of mine has suffered his wrath... Now, let's just move on to a more pleasant subject, shall we?" I wanted to protest, but then I looked into his face. His smirk was gone and instead I could see a very deep sadness in his eyes. So I chose not to ask any more questions about his family for now.

"So, how have you liked your first days back at school?" He asked me curiously.

We spent the rest of the evening drinking butter beer and chatting about Hogwarts and after I mentioned an essay we had to write for Prof. Binns about the goblin wars, I discovered that he had quite the passion for history and found I really enjoyed talking with him about it. Binns always recited the same things over and over again and, like most wizards, was very prejudiced against every other species.

It was different with Elijah though, he seemed to have a background knowledge and insight into the motives of the goblins, which far surpassed that of Binns.

After the third butter beer, I finally excused myself, as it was getting close to curfew and Elijah  _ was _ after all a teacher. Even though it didn't really feel that way at all.


	4. Elijah and the toad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Umbridge tries to inspect Elijah's lesson

I just took another gulp of my pumpkin juice, when I heard the swooshing sound of the owls with the morning post flying into the great hall. Immediately I put my glass away and took the prophet from the delivery owl. The juice tasted strange anyway. Ever since I returned to Hogwarts this year, all the drinks were somehow tasting wrong. Or maybe it was because it was, because I now knew that all the meals were prepared by slaves! And while I still tried to get people to join S.P.E.W., the others all didn't seem to care. Maybe I should try to get a teacher to help me...

I picked up the paper and looked at it, although, after all the bad news this week, I really dreaded opening it,. Today was the second Friday since school had started. On Tuesday there had been an article explaining Mrs. Umbridge's new role as a high inquisitor and about her right to inspect the lessons. She had already been in to observe our Transfiguration and Care For Magical Creatures class and Fred and George had told us, that she had inspected their charms lesson. This woman truly was horrible. During her inspection of Prof. Grubby-Plank's lesson the Slytherins told her all kind of horrible stories and I dreaded what would happen when Hagrid returned. Prof. McGonagall and Prof. Flitwick were great, so I didn't worry about them, but I wasn't that sure what she would have to say about Elijah's lessons. He was still teaching us muggle fighting, but had also put in some sessions, where one of us had to fight against two or more 'enemies' and I noticed that I really got better every time.

The other horrible news had been the Azkaban mass breakout on Wednesday. Of course Harry had lost his temper on the corridor, when he overheard some younger students talking about the breakout. Somehow they all seemed to believe that it was Sirius doing and had talked very bad about him. Just when Harry started to get angry and told them that Voldemort was back and not to believe the things in the papers, Umbridge had walked out of a nearby classroom. Now he had a month of detentions... this boy really never learned anything.

I finally gathered the courage to look at the newspaper. On the first page was some boring story about the life of a former ministry worker who had apparently died yesterday. I went through the paper and found an article about a guy named Sturgis Podmore, who had tried to get through a door at the ministry of magic at one o'clock in the morning and was sentenced to six months of Azkaban. The rest was mostly rubbish. Just when I wanted to put it away, a name in a short article in the international section caught my eye.

* * *

** Finally peace in New Orleans – travel warning removed **

_ After years of war in New Orleans, the city is finally safe again. The different supernatural factions put together a new council and elected a Queen who will solve problems between the rivaling factions in the future. _

_ Rebekah Mikaelson, a vampire, was crowned last Saturday with magnificent celebrations and put together a peace contract, which now officially ended the war, which had started when her young niece was kidnapped over 15 years ago. _

_ Because of this, the Department of International Cooperation in the ministry of magic has finally removed the travel warning for Louisiana. _

* * *

Rebekah  _ Mikaelson _ ? New Orleans? Hadn't Elijah said something about a war in New Orleans last week? Against his brother? Was this Rebekah related to him somehow? I suddenly remembered our first lesson, where he had mumbled something about a Rebekah...

Saturday... Now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen Elijah the whole weekend. Hmm. I mentally wrote that down on my 'Things to ask Elijah'-List. I would find that out one day, but last time I asked him about his family, he had seemed so sad that I hesitated to ask something else.

I looked up, when Harry and Ron sat down next to me, Harry seemed strangely pale and was rubbing his scar. I watched him concerned.

"Harry? Is everything alright?" He turned to me and just shrugged.

"It's nothing. Just a bad dream I guess." He avoided looking me in the eye and grabbed a bit of toast for himself.

"And your scar hurts? What was that dream about?" I asked curiously. That didn't sound good.

"I'm not really that sure. I was in some room. There were ten other people there. Lucius Malfoy and this crazy witch, Bellatrix Lestrange? I think the other were deatheaters too. And Voldemort, he told them to look for someone. He seemed angry that they hadn't found that person already." He tried to explain his dream, but seemed confused.

"He sent deatheaters to find someone? Ten of them? Who is he looking for that is so important?" It did seem to be a bit of an overkill.

"I have absolutely no idea." He said, frustrated.

"Could you pass me the milk, Harry?" Ron suddenly interrupted us. He apparently hadn't listened to a thing we had said. His whole attention had been focused on his breakfast.

I sighed and went back to my own meal.

xxx

We were all sitting on the mats in the DADA classroom, waiting for Elijah to show up. The lessons had become one of our favorites very soon. It was just so very different from all those other subjects and it felt good to do some actual sports (Quidditch doesn't count!) every once in a while. Even the Slytherins seemed to enjoy the lessons now.

The door opened and, to my great displeasure, Umbridge stepped into the room, clipboard in her hand. She looked around the room appalled.

"What are you all doing, sitting on the floor? Where are your books?" She asked us with big eyes, disbelief clearly written on her face. She shook her head, pointed her wand to one of the mats and transformed it into a chair, which she dragged into a corner.

"Oh, the books will not be necessary for this lesson. And would you please be so kind as to change that back? We do happen to need those mats." Elijah had entered the room and was looking at her with a mixture of distaste and forced politeness. Umbridge stared at him, as if he had lost his mind. It really didn't seem very intelligent to piss her off right at the beginning. She  _ could _ after all decide to fire him.

"Now. If you please, I would like to begin." His voice still sounded polite and he was smiling at her pleasantly, but now there was a dangerous glint in his eyes. I felt the familiar shiver run down my spine and fought the urge to attack him. This was getting ridiculous. What was it with him that put me so on edge? He was always very nice to me.

Umbridge seemed so perplexed that she really stood up and transformed the chair back into one of the mats. Then she went with a raised head to the other end of the room and angrily scribbled something on her clipboard. Elijah just smirked and turned to look at us.

"Okay, so you may have already noted our guest for today." He rolled his eyes and many students giggled silently.

"Now, I would like you all to take your wands out and show me if you can all shoot those harmless green sparks." At once everyone started mumbling quietly. That was something new. I was getting excited. We all got our wands out and shot green sparks in the air. Even Neville managed that spell without any problems. I noticed Umbridge watching us confused.

"Wonderful. Please find a partner and stand on a mat as always." Elijah instructed us and, of course, I once again ended up with Neville. We chose the mat next to Ron and Harry at the front of the room, close to Umbridge. I hoped we would be able to listen to some of the questions Umbridge would ask Elijah. Or, more importantly, his answers.

"In today's exercise, one of you will try to shoot green sparks at his or her partner, whilst the other one will attempt to use the skills you have learned in previous lessons to get to the attacker and disarm him or her. Start again if you get hit by the sparks and change roles after five hits or if you manage to disarm the other." He explained the task and I was getting excited. That really sounded like something useful! If we could disarm a wizard in a fight without our wand, that could one day save our lives.

I could hear a coughing sound from where Umbridge stood, but Elijah apparently choose to ignore that and let his gaze sweep over us, his expression now serious.

"I  _ only _ want to see green sparks. You will  _ not _ use any other spells against each other. Are we clear?" He asked, unsmiling. We all nodded.

"That means you too, Mr. Malfoy. Anyone who ignores this will partner with me and, I can assure you, that won't be pleasant." He smirked evilly and Malfoy gulped. He had tried to provoke Elijah last lesson, when we were doing two-against-one fights and Elijah chose to let all the Slytherin boys fight him at once. They didn't stand the slightest chance and were quickly subdued. But it had obviously raised Malfoy's respect for Elijah.

I heard the coughing sound again and when Elijah still ignored her, Umbridge went to stand beside him and interrupted.

"Professor Mikaelson, what do you think you're doing here?" She asked with a honey sweet voice.

"I thought that would be rather apparent – I am teaching them to defend themselves, is that not what this lesson is all about?" He replied calmly, smirking at her.

"Actually, school is about passing the exams and I doubt any of this will be covered there." Umbridge told him, as if talking to a little child. Elijah closed his eyes for a short moment and took a deep breath.

"Is that so? But perhaps that is not the safest approach with a dark wizard on a murder spree."

"What are you talking about? There is no dark wizard running around, You-Know-Who died years ago." She replied angrily. This was getting interesting. Everyone was staring at them now. And, while most students didn't believe in the return of Voldemort, they still seemed to side with Elijah.

"I  _ have _ heard about that, yes. But he is back now, besides, there will always be new enemies." He explained smiling.

"Prof. Mikaelson, you might not really understand the concept of death. If someone is dead, they don't come back." Elijah chuckled and shook his head.

"Believe me, I wish that was the case. But, in my experience, dark wizards and witches happen to have this rather aggravating habit of coming back from the dead. I should be sure to introduce you to my mother one day." He said casually, annoyed, as if talking about his mother's bad table manners, not her returning from the dead. Was that really possible? I mean, I believed it with Voldemort, because he is a very powerful dark wizard and no one really knew what happened when he vanished last time. But to be completely dead and then return?  _ Who _ was Elijah's mother? Maybe he wasn't a normal muggle after all? Or maybe just a squib?

Umbridge seemed to be at a loss of words and stared at him disbelieving.

"That is absolutely impossible. No one has this kind of power! Not even You-Know-Who!" She tried again, but Elijah just smiled.

"I happen to know two young witches, who were both able to bring someone back from the dead, while they weren't even of age yet. I'm certain that, if a 17 year old can do that, Voldemort will manage too." The whole class (except for Harry) winced and Umbridge looked outraged.

"Now, would you please stand out of the way? You're disrupting my lesson." He told her, annoyed, and I saw that evil glint in his eyes again. Umbridge went back to her corner and wrote something on her clipboard. Elijah nodded for us to begin and I started to try to shoot green sparks at Neville. He had gotten much better since we first started those lessons and seemed to have become a bit more confident, probably because we normally didn't use our wands here. He managed to evade two of my sparks, but then got hit, when he tried to attack me.

Umbridge watched the class with wide eyes and she went over to Elijah.

"I think that when you chose to take over the job, the ministry of magic made it clear that you were to use the books we told you and that this year's lessons should be only theory. I don't think I, as a high inquisitor, can accept a teacher who so blatantly ignores the ministry's curriculum. You would do better to stop this nonsense now and do as you're told." Umbridge told Elijah with a mean little smile. Oh no! She wasn't going to fire him, was she?

"Are you  _ threatening _ me?If so, I advise that you cease your pathetic attempts, because the last person who tried didn't live another minute." The evil glint had grown to a full out menacing glare, his voice was dangerously low and he slowly turned around and looked her in the eye. There was not a trace left of his former pleasantness and his usual polite smile. Umbridge seemed to shrink away for him and gulped, fear clearly visible in her eyes. And I could understand her. I was once again reminded of the scene with Prof. Lupin in the summer holidays. My heart beat sped up in fear and I looked around me. Everyone had stopped with the exercise and stared at Elijah and Umbridge.

"You are very fortunate that I still want to stay here in Hogwarts. So I will make an exception." He told her, threateningly. Now Umbridge got angry, as she saw us all staring at her.

"Just you wait until the minister hears about you threatening a ministry official! I've told him from the very beginning that it was a great mistake to accept you as a teacher! But Mr. Malfoy convinced him that you would be an excellent choice and so Fudge allowed Dumbledore to hire you! You! A foreigner without any recommendations! And with a filthy Part-Human for a sister!" She shouted enraged. Elijah knew Lucius Malfoy? Somehow this news alarmed me more than the possibility of Umbridge firing Elijah. And Part-Human sister? So Rebekah Mikaelson was Elijah's sister? As far as I know, the ministry classifies vampires as Part-Human Non-Wizards.

Elijah seemed to be really angry know. He slowly went in her direction, like a predator and looked at her with an absolutely terrifying expression. I really started to fear for Umbridge's life now. She seemed to share my feeling and slowly walked backwards, completely frightened. Her back hit the wall and her eyes widened in fear. With shaking hands, she pulled out her wand while Elijah came closer with every step. He just chuckled darkly at the sight of the wand pointed at him. He took another slow step towards her and quickly grabbed her wand hand and pinned it to the wall above her head. Umbridge tried to struggle but seemed completely helpless.

Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath, the others seemed to be just as frightened by Elijah's demeanor as I was. Probably even more. No one had seen him act this way with Lupin. They only knew his nice and gentle side. In class, he might get a bit angry or annoyed at someone, but never like this.

Slowly he bent down to Umbridge, he stopped with his mouth just next to her ear. He seemed to whisper something, but I couldn't hear it. From the way Umbridge's eyes widened even more, it didn't seem to be something pleasant.

He slowly stood back up, and stared her in the eye.

"If you don't want the minister to hear about this…little secret of yours, I advise you to keep your mouth shut. And  _ never _ insult my family again." He told her with a cruel grin and she nodded with teary eyes. What was that about? Was he blackmailing her? With what?

He took a few steps back: his pleasant smile was suddenly back on his face.

"Excellent. I suggest you leave now." He told her calmly and Umbridge quickly picked up the clipboard, which she had dropped when he had pinned her against the wall, and fled the room.

We all stood there stunned. He had just kicked her out of his classroom! Not to mention threatening her before that. He turned back around to us, smirking confidently.

"Let's continue the lesson, shall we?"

xxx

"You guys can go to lunch, I won't take long, I only want to talk to Prof. Mikaelson." Harry told me and Ron at the end of the lesson. Elijah had just finished the lesson and the room was buzzing with the excited chatting of all the students. Everyone was talking about Umbridge's visit. I was sure by the end of lunch, the whole school would know about it.

Ron stared at Harry as if he was crazy.

"You think we'll leave you alone with him, after what just happened? He looked ready to kill Umbridge. I don't think this is the best time to talk to him. What do you want anyway?"

"I... it's just..." Harry signed, "He said his mother came back from the dead, Ron. I just..." He trailed off. A weight settled on my heart. Poor Harry. I didn't even want to imagine how it must be to grow up without a nice, caring family. I knew my parents loved me more than anything and sometimes I wished Harry could have the same. Of course he wanted to know more about a possibility to bring his parents back. And I was curious myself what Elijah had talked about.

"I'll come with you, Ron can go eat lunch." I told them and Ron looked relieved. He obviously was a bit scared of Elijah, but didn't want Harry to be alone with him either.

"Professor? Do you maybe have a minute?" Harry asked nervously and Elijah turned around to look at us. Everyone else had left the room already.

"Of course. Is there a problem?" He asked Harry curiously and then looked at me and raised his eyebrow questioningly.

"Not really. It's just that you mentioned that there are ways to bring someone back from the dead? Like your mother? And I wondered if there might be a way to..."

"Bring back your parents? I'm afraid it's not that easy..." Elijah told him apologetically.

"But it  _ is _ possible? And you know someone who can do that and could show me? You said yourself the witches you know weren't much older than I am!" Harry tried desperately.

"Yes, it is indeed possible. But it always comes at a price. A price you would not be willing to pay."

"What do you mean? What price? I would do anything." Harry still had that hopeful look on his face.

"No, you most definitely would not. Bonnie once paid for that with her own death. The others used a lot of dark magic. It's possible to put someone's soul into another body, but your parents wouldn't want that. It also became much more difficult since the other side was destroyed... Davina, she...she needed  _ 14 years _ to achieve enough power to bring back my little brother. And it changed her. You cannot beat death by using white magic and so she used  _ massacres _ to power the ritual that enabled her to finally bring him back. If you are not willing to sacrifice hundreds of people to get your parents back, then I am afraid I really don't see a way. And you would never do that. I'm sorry." Elijah told us thoughtful and I watched as Harry's face fell and a complete hopelessness take over.

"Oh, okay... we'll just…go to lunch then..." Harry said and slowly went out of the room. I sent one last look Elijah's way and then quickly followed Harry to try and cheer him up a bit.

No wonder Elijah didn't want to talk about his family – a vampire as a sister; a kidnapped niece; fighting a war with his brother, and his mother and other brother both came back from the dead...

Suddenly, I was really glad about my wonderfully normal, muggle family.


	5. Rumors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione is starting to wonder about her Herbology lessons and they find out Voldemort is looking for someone.  
> Sadly no Elijah in this chapter...

_ End of September _

_ Hermione: _

 

"Yes, Miss Granger? Is there a problem?" Prof. Sprout asked me, confused, when she noticed my raised hand.

Right now, we were all sitting in a sea of purple in the middle of greenhouse five. The whole class was picking and magically drying some of the vervain that was surrounding us from every side.

"I just wondered, if you could maybe tell us what the magical use of vervain is, professor?" I asked her curiously. I had searched the whole library for this.

"Well, Miss Granger, vervain is mostly used in a certain love potion and as far as I know, some werewolves use it to spice meals or drinks, but non-werewolves can't taste it. In the middle ages, many witches and wizards, but also some muggles drank it regularly, because they thought it would keep evil beings away and it was said to protect people from mind compulsion. This myth was proven to be false thought. There were test done in 1841 and it turned out that vervain does not change the effect of the imperius curse, neither does it protect the mind from Legilimency." Prof. Sprout explained to us and I looked around me. There was no other plant growing in this whole greenhouse!

"But, Professor..." I started confused, "why are we growing a whole greenhouse of this flower then?" There had to be a reason for that, right? As far as I knew, there currently was no werewolf in the castle and I couldn't imagine Prof. Snape spending all his time brewing love potions either. I grinned at this thought.

"If you do find that out one day, please share it with me. Because I have asked the headmaster the same question over and over again and he has yet to give me a sufficient answer. But Prof. Dumbledore does insist that this flower is crucial to the safety of us all. Something about it being an insurance if someone goes looking for a midnight snack. Who knows what goes on in this head of his. But he does use a horribly large amount of it. We could feed the whole school with it." Prof. Sprout told us, slightly annoyed with Dumbledore as it seemed. And I could understand her. This was already the fourth lesson we had spent harvesting vervain. And, apparently, it was of no use whatsoever! Dumbledore seemed to get crazier every day.

We all went back to work and after another ten minutes I noticed that Harry didn't seem to be here with his mind at all. He looked worried and had only said about two sentences since the beginning of the class, even though everyone around us was chatting with their friends. Now that I thought about it, he hadn't talked much at breakfast either.

"Harry? What's the matter?" I asked him concerned.

"It's those dreams, I keep having them. About Voldemort." Harry whispered very quiet, so that only Ron and I could hear him.

"You don't think they're real, man, do you? I mean they're only dreams, right?"

"I'm not sure about that, Ron. My scar always hurts afterwards and sometimes I feel Voldemort's emotions with it. What if I really see what Voldemort is doing at that moment?" Oh, hadn't the boys figured that out already? I had taken Harry's visions serious from the beginning.

"I think that they are very real, Harry. You probably have some kind of connection to him through your scar and everything." I explained them quickly and Ron looked at me as if I had grown a second head.

"Honestly? You're kidding, right?" He asked me, scared and then started giggling and turned to Harry. "You should definitely write those down in your dream diary for Trelawney! She would love them!"

"Ron! That's no joke! Maybe you should go and tell Prof. Dumbledore about them. Or, at the very least, write a letter to Sirius, Harry." I suggested. "What was this one about?"

"Hmm, do you remember what I told you about the last one? That Voldemort has deatheaters looking for someone? I think they have found him... Bellatrix Lestrange was telling Voldemort that they have a lead, that the person is somewhere in Italy." Harry explained and Ron looked confused.

"Voldemort is looking for someone? Who?"

"I have no idea. They never mentioned a name. But Voldemort felt very happy when they told him that."

"What were the exact words, Harry? This might be important!" I asked him. This didn't sound good.

"Uhm, something like 'We finally found him. He's in Italy with a girl. We'll go and bring him here.'"

"So it definitely is a man. I hope You-Know-Who doesn't hurt them. You should really tell someone from the order. They have to know that he's up to something. Nothing that makes him happy can mean anything good for our side!"

"Fine, calm down, Hermione. I'll write Sirius this evening, okay?"

xxx

Dinner that evening was a bit tense. Harry had returned from his Divination lesson in a very foul mood, after Trelawney had predicted some very nasty future events from his dream diary.

"Harry, we all know she's a horrible fraud. She was just annoyed with Umbridge putting her on probation and was taking it out on you." Ron tried to cheer him up.

"Yeah, whatever, I have detention now, see you later.", and he went off to go to Umbridge. At least he had sent a letter to Sirius before he came down to dinner.

"Umbridge really is a horrible person, putting poor Prof. Trelawney on probation. She's such a wonderful seer and a great teacher." Lavender complained, when she sat down next to Ron, and I snorted.

"Yeah, right. Don't get me wrong, I totally agree with you about Umbridge, but personally I still think Divination is very useless." I told her and took another gulp of my pumpkin juice.

"Like Prof. Trelawney said, you just never had the inner eye! But I must say I'm pretty glad we got Prof. Mikaelson as a teacher. From what I heard, the ministry wanted to appoint Umbridge as our Defense teacher if Dumbledore hadn't found someone else. That woman would have been a terrible teacher. I still wonder why Prof. Mikaelson isn't on probation though. I mean, he apparently doesn't follow the ministry's curriculum and just kicked her out of the classroom!" She voiced her thoughts to us.

Ever since that day, Umbridge seemed to tiptoe around Elijah, while he ignored her completely. I really would like to know what he was using to blackmail her. I threw a glance at the teacher's table and watched as he said something to Prof. McGonagall and she started blushing.

"What do you think is going on between those two? They always seem to be flirting or joking and the story McGonagall told us sounded very much like a love story, don't you think?" Parvati seemed to have followed my gaze.

"Don't be ridiculous! She's at least twice his age! And he's so good looking and charming, he could have anyone!" Lavender replied shocked.

"But I've overheard Ernie telling Hannah, that he saw Mikaelson come out of McGonagall's room yesterday morning." Parvati excitedly shared this bit of gossip with us. I looked at them again. They did seem to get along splendidly. But I think that only was to be expected when you once worked together to bring down a very dangerous monster. I still haven't found anything about this Klaus guy in the library. I started to suspect, that I would only find something about him in the forbidden section and I didn't know yet if McGonagall or Elijah would give me a permission slip. Maybe I could borrow Harry's invisibility cloak if they didn't?

"I think he took more of a liking to Hermione." Lavender replied winking. When we looked at her surprised she continued. "Come on, you must have noticed! The way he looks and smiles at you and everything. And he always calls you by your first name! And if you talk about him you always call him Elijah too!"

"Oh Lavender, you've totally misunderstood that! I call him Elijah because I already met him during the holidays and he insisted. And he told me that he was very good friends with my parents, so it's only natural that he is acting a bit different towards me, isn't it?"

"He knows your parents? Your  _ muggle _ parents?" Parvati seemed stunned.

"I don't think that's it, Hermione, you might not notice, but he watches you very much during class. And he always seems so proud when you do something right." Lavender just couldn't drop it. This was getting absurd! I was sure that Elijah was just being nice. He didn't think about me in  _ that _ way! That thought somehow made me very uncomfortable. I shivered and pushed it out of my mind. I would never start anything with a teacher!

"Think whatever you want Lavender. I have to go. I still have homework." I stood up promptly and left the great hall in a rush, leaving Ron with the two girls.

xxx

I was halfway finished with my Transfiguration essay, trying to ignore Ron's complaining about the potions homework, when Harry climbed through the portrait hole in the nearly empty common room. Umbridge always kept him late and the detentions usually left him in a very foul mood. Today was no different, the only people left awake were me and Ron. He tiredly plopped down in one of the armchairs next to us. For some reason he held his right hand strangely hidden under his sleeve and had carried his bag with his left hand.

"Harry, are you okay? You always act strange after your detentions." I asked him worriedly.

"Could you just leave me alone please? You're always nagging me about something! I'm fine, alright?" He replied, annoyed, but didn't look me in the eye. Something was definitely off. And why did he hide his hand? Before he could react I bend forward grabbed his right hand, pulled it from his sleeve and looked it over. I froze and stared at it horrified, when I noticed the faint red scars that read  _ 'I must not tell lies'. _

"Harry! What is this?! You said you only had to write lines!"

"Well, that's what I'm doing..." He told me sheepishly.

"That's not just writing lines! How does she do this?!", now I really started to hate this woman! I took a breath and tried to calm down and to my surprise it worked very well. I didn't feel nearly as angry as when shouting at Trelawney two weeks ago. Strange.

"She has this creepy quill that kind of cuts whatever you write down into your hand and uses the blood to write it on the paper." Harry tried to explain with a low voice.

"Harry, I'm sure that's very illegal! You have to tell someone! If McGonagall knew about this..."

"No, I won't Hermione! That would be like letting her win, don't you get it? It's like she's waiting for me to complain! And I don't think McGonagall could do anything about it..." I stared at him speechless. What did he expect to gain from a power struggle with Umbridge? Boys and their stupid ego! But he sounded so final I was sure he wouldn't be swayed. I decided to let it drop and use my power for something useful instead. Like finding a way to help him with the pain. I think Snape mentioned a pain-reducing essence in our third year. I would look it up first thing tomorrow and see it I could get some of it for Harry.

Suddenly the fireplace flared and when we turned to look at it I noticed a head in the flames.

"Sirius! What are you doing here?! This is dangerous! What if someone saw you?" I instantly berated him. He just smiled at me.

"Nice to see you too, Hermione. Hello boys. I don't know how much time I have so I will get straight to the point. Harry, I got your letter." He started and we all sat down close to the fireplace.

"So what do you think about the dreams? I really don't know what to do, Sirius." Harry asked him and I noticed a tad of fear in his voice.

"I think they might be very real, Harry. From what I know of the order meetings, both Remus and Snivellus have mentioned that You-Know-Who is looking for someone. The weapon we told you about this summer? It's this guy. Remus told us You-Know-Who has even asked the werewolves to find him, but they believed him to be somewhere in America. If You-Know-Who really found him we have to be prepared. I already told Dumbledore and if you have any other of those dreams you have to tell him as soon as possible." Sirius told Harry worriedly. That didn't sound good at all!

"Sirius? Who is this guy you're talking about? Why is it so bad that You-Know-Who has found him?" I asked him.

"I can't tell you his name, I'm sorry, but I don't know it myself. But apparently he is even more powerful and evil than You-Know-Who himself. If those two work together we will have a big problem. That's why McGonagall-" Suddenly he looked sideways then turned quickly back to us.

"I have to go, I can hear someone. Be careful." And, before we could say anything else, he was gone.

"Okay...somehow I don't feel safer now." Ron finally disrupted the silence.

"Yeah... I thought that Sirius would come up with some explanation for those dreams that doesn't involve some creepy connection to Voldemort." Harry looked at me accusingly, as if the whole thing was my fault.

"But, Harry, those dreams are not all bad, are they? At least now the order has some information You-Know-Who doesn't know we have and that might give us an advantage! Sirius is right by the way, next time you have to tell Dumbledore as soon as you can." I tried to cheer him up a bit, but wasn't very successful.

"Yes Hermione, I know, can we leave the creepy dreams alone now, please? I still have to do some homework for tomorrow." Harry replied tiredly. Fifth year was stressful for all of us, but in combination with his nightmares and the long detentions, it was slowly wearing him out. Ron seemed to have noticed too.

"Tell you what, I just finished potions, so I'll invent some dreams for your dream diary and Hermione can help you finish the essay for Binns." He looked at me questioningly and I nodded. Harry really needed some sleep.

"Thank you, guys. I'm just so glad we have a double Defense lesson tomorrow, at least one class we don't have to do homework for." Harry said, gratefully as he opened his bag and spread his books on the table in front of us.

He was right, Elijah never gave us homework, there just wasn't much we could do for the lessons. But now I thought back to what Sirius had said. And about the guy Voldemort was looking for. I felt my stomach turn into one tight knot. I just couldn't imagine someone worse than Voldemort. But if it really was true and Voldemort managed to get him on his side... I shivered and thought back to our last Defense lesson. I had managed to evade many of the sparks Harry and Ron shot at me and even disarmed Harry, but it all seemed so stupid and useless now. It might be a great last effort once you were disarmed in a fight and had no other choice, but that was all. If I ever had to fight for my life I would stand there, scared and unable to do any spells, because none of our Defense teachers ever bothered to teach us how to duel. I didn't count that disaster with Lockhart in our second year.

And now Voldemort was back and there was a guy who was even more dangerous and I felt utterly helpless. The only one of us who had any hope of surviving a fight against one of them was Harry. Suddenly that gave me an idea.

"Harry, we have to do something about it." I told him and he looked up from his homework, completely confused.

"About what? About my dreams or Umbridge? I already told you..."

"No, that's not what I'm talking about! We have to do something about our Defense lessons!"

"What? Hermione, what are you talking about? Mikaelson is great!" Ron replied, confused.

"Yeah, he is, and his lessons really are useful, but we have not learned a single spell! And it looks like we won't anytime soon. But we also have to be able to defend ourselves with magic! Not to mention that we will have to do spells in our exams! It might be time that we do something about it!"

"But what can we do?"

"Harry, you have to teach us!" I told him excitedly and he looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

"I'm not a teacher Hermione, why can't we just ask Prof. Mikaelson?" That put me back to reality.

"But he's no wizard. I already told you that! He can't teach us spells." I told him, annoyed. Wasn't it obvious?

"Maybe he's right though. We could just go and tell him that we would like to learn spells. He does not have to do it himself, but maybe he has some idea? And maybe we should also wait a bit more? He did say that we would do magic later and we haven't even been here for a month." Ron putted in. That actually did sound like a good idea.

"Hmm, okay. But if we don't do magical Defense in the next two weeks, I will talk to him."

"That sounds great. Can you help me with my essay now?" Harry obviously didn't like my idea as much as I did. Oh, well. I will find a way to learn some spells, so I won't feel as helpless. I wouldn't give up without a fight.


	6. A busy day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caroline spends a fantastic day in Venice...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this might seem out of place at first, but to all the klaroline-haters out there: don't worry, next chapter we're back at Hermione's POV.

_Early October:_

_Caroline:_

 

I felt the sunlight tickle my face and slowly opened my eyes. The big suite was bathed in sunlight, which fell through the huge windows. I was still slightly tired, so I decided to cuddle up to the person lying next to me on our king-sized bed. He stirred a bit and changed his position slightly to wrap his arms tightly around me. I smiled contentedly, closed my eyes again and just enjoyed the feeling of the soft bed and his warm arms around me.

Suddenly I jolted and looked at my clock. Oh no! We had overslept!

Quickly I peeled free from the arms around me, ignoring the unhappy growl accompanying my actions. I jumped out of the bed, called the room-service to bring us some breakfast to our room, rushed into the gigantic bathroom and got ready in vampire speed. Once I was satisfied with my look, I returned to the bedroom.

"Klaus! You have to get up! We're already behind in our schedule! So get out of bed already and hurry up! And what is she still doing here?" I ranted and he smiled amused.

"Good morning to you too, Caroline. I thought you might want a warm breakfast, so I left some.", he gestured towards the girl, who had brought a tray with coffee and breakfast for us, not knowing that Klaus would prefer another kind of drink. He licked the blood from his lips and smiled teasingly up to me. I snorted, went to our mini-fridge and ripped into one of the blood bags, that I had brought with me.

"Are you sure? I suspect we have a very busy day before us. We wouldn't want you get hungry and fall behind in our schedule." He told me with a serious face, but then lost the fight with himself and started chuckling. I started grinning too and playfully threw the empty blood bag in his face. That was one of the best things about him. He didn't complain about my neurotics and try to make me lose them like all the others did, but instead he'd told me weeks ago, that it was something he found very cute and loved about me. And that he would never try to change me.

"Oh shut up! We have to follow the plan or we will never manage to get everything done. So. GET. UP. NOW! And let her go!" I told him resolutely and, still chuckling, he compelled the girl, while I started picking up our clothes, which were still scattered on the floor from last night. I didn't want the room-service to find it like that. I heard the girl leave and Klaus getting out of bed. Then I felt a pair of lips kissing my neck softly.

"Seeing as we're already late, I sure it won't hurt much if we enjoy another half hour in bed, don't you think so, love?" He whispered seductively in my ear and a pleasurable shiver ran down my spine. I turned around.

"Don't even think about it! I just got dressed and did my hair! And there is so much we have to do today! Visit the piazza San Marco, drive around with a gondolier, see the-" He shut me up by pulling me into a gentle kiss.

"We have all of eternity, Caroline." He whispered against my lips and I sighed. He broke the kiss and looked at me with a mischievous grin. Before I could react, he had sped us over to the bed again and started kissing me again. So much for my schedule. Oh well, he was right, we had all the time of the world. I returned his kiss.

xxx

I watched in awe as our little boat passed the beautifully lit alleys of Venice. It was already dark and the city's flair was even more intense at night. I turned and noticed Klaus watching me with a smile and I leaned against him.

"Thank you for taking me here. It's amazing." I whispered quietly. He smiled and wrapped his right arm around my shoulders.

"Thank _you_ , Caroline, for letting me show all this to you." He kissed my cheek and looked at me with a loving expression. I cuddled up to his chest and looked at the city again.

And I was happy. More happy, than I had been in a long time. When Rebekah and Kol had shown up in Mystic Falls half a year ago, I never would have expected this.

xxx

_When we heard Damon grunt in pain, Bonnie and I rushed down the stairs in the Salvatore house as fast as we could. We arrived downstairs and saw Damon standing at the open door, holding his head in pain. I quickly turned to see the witch who was causing it._

_In the doorway stood a good looking guy around twenty, which I had never seen before. When he noticed us, he stopped giving Damon a headache and smiled._

" _Hello, ladies. What a sexy sight." He greeted us and winked at me playfully. I noticed, that I was only wearing a nightshirt and quickly wrapped my arms around me. Damon growled._

" _Who are you? You better start running now, before I kill you." He threatened._

" _That's not very nice of you, Damon. That's no way to talk to old friends. But then again, we never were." At this moment his phone started ringing and he answered._

" _Sister, what is it?" … "No, she's here at the Salvatore house." … "Don't always be such a spoilsport. Damon can't hurt me. Now leave it and get over here." He put his phone away and looked at us again._

" _We have to talk. My sister will be here soon." We all watched as he entered the house, went into the sitting room and got himself a drink._

" _I'm sorry, but do we know you?" Bonnie asked him. The confident way he moved around the house told us he'd been here before, but Damon didn't seem to know him._

" _Now you hurt my feelings, darling. Don't you tell me you don't remember me! We got along so splendidly until your boyfriend killed me." He pouted at her mockingly. Suddenly, we heard someone else enter the house._

" _Oh, stop this nonsense, Kol. We have more important things to do than messing with them." Rebekah Mikaelson had just entered the room and we were all staring at her._

" _Rebekah? What are you doing here? Wait, did you say Kol?" I turned to the unfamiliar boy and he smiled at me mischievously._

" _Like my new body, love?" He asked me teasingly and Damon growled again._

" _Shouldn't you be dead? The other side crashed! And what do you and Blondie want?" He asked them angrily._

" _We need Caroline to come to New Orleans with us. We want to stop the war." Kol informed us and I got angry._

" _And what exactly makes you think that I want to come with you?" I replied and he smiled._

" _I wasn't asking, darling. Thought it would be much more pleasant for you to come willingly and convince Nik to agree to a peace contract, I could just take you as a hostage and kill everyone else in this city." He explained cruelly. Rebekah seemed surprised by his suggestion, but didn't object._

" _Since when do you want peace?" Bonnie asked him, genuinely surprised._

" _Oh I don't care about peace, love, but Nik and Elijah are trying to kill my girl and the white oak stake is gone, so peace is the second best option."_

" _And you think I can convince Klaus to stop the war? I haven't seen him in years!" That was crazy!_

" _You're the only one who has any chance at making him see reason. If Kol talks to Davina and I manage to make Elijah agree to a peace, we might be able to end this war before there is truly nothing left of the city."_

xxx

"Caroline? We're at the restaurant." Klaus ripped me out of my thoughts and suddenly I was back in reality. I got out of the boat and followed him to one of the tables from which we had a fantastic view over the sea.

"What were you thinking about?" He asked me curiously, as we sat down.

"The day your siblings came and took me to New Orleans with them. And how glad I am they did." I told him truthfully and he smiled when he heard that.

"I still remember the day you showed up there, as if it was yesterday." He seemed lost in thought now too, but took my hand and slowly began to draw circles on it with his thumb.

xxx

_Shaking I walked down the empty street of what used to be the French Quarter, hiding in the shadows, careful not to attract attention. Kol and Rebekah had send me off alone, saying it would be too dangerous to stay with them, as everyone here knew them._

_I quickly hid behind one of the ruins surrounding me, when I heard footsteps coming around a corner and waited until the four men had vanished into the next street, before I snuck closer to the big house that Rebekah had described, my heart racing in my chest._

_When I had finally reached it, I found the big entrance door locked and decided not to knock. Klaus wouldn't open it himself and who knows what the werewolves would do if they found me standing outside it. I mentally cursed Rebekah and Kol again for involving me in this horrible war and wished I would have went with Stefan to Ireland, when he started a new life there five years ago. We were still on good terms, despite our breakup and right now I wanted nothing more than be as far away from this city as possible. Half of the buildings were destroyed, either burned down or smashed in during a fight and I had not seen a single living human yet. Only two corpses with ripped out throats. I shivered and just wanted to run back home._

_Instead I took a deep breath, tried to get my courage together and went around the building. I promptly found an open window in the second floor and after a quick look around me, I jumped up to it and climbed in as quietly as I could._

_I quickly covered my mouth and nose to suppress a coughing fit. The room was dusty and looked abandoned. It seemed to have been a room for a little child once. There was a little bed and a teddy and on the wall was a beautiful painting of the city with a full moon shining down on it._

_But now there was no child living in it anymore. Everything was covered in cobwebs and hidden under a layer of dust. The open window seemed to be only a pitiful attempt to get the musty smell out, but it didn't help much._

_I tiptoed out of the door, which led into another dusty bedroom, then out onto the hallway. On the other side big windows opened up towards the inner courtyard and I carefully stepped closer to one of them, so I could look down._

_In the yard there was a big group of people, all surrounding three guys in the middle. And in front of them stood Klaus, a cruel grin on his face._

" _Now tell me again what were you doing, sneaking around the French quarter? You know this is werewolf territory. Did Elijah send you to spy on me?" He asked the guys, who apparently were vampires and one of them, a dark haired guy with a purple shirt stared at him, frightened._

" _Elijah didn't send us, I... I only c-came here to... I... We'll just leave now?" Klaus laughed, amused, then he jumped up and in a flash, the heads of the other two vampires were falling to the ground._

" _I don't think so, Josh. You see, I know you wanted to visit Aiden, but he's one of my werewolves and I don't want him to spill our secrets and tactics to you. But I'm sure you know what Elijah and Marcel are planning, so if you tell me, I might let you live. And I might consider not executing Aiden for treason." He offered him as I watched the scene unfold, horrified. That was the person Klaus had been when he had come to Mystic Falls and killed Jenna, not the charming guy who had fallen in love with me. I would never be able to convince this guy to agree to a peace._

_The guy, Josh, looked down to his dead companions and then something seemed to snap inside him._

" _You know what, Klaus? Do whatever you want, I'm done being caught up in the middle. You and your brother and Davina have fought for years and I can't even say who I want to win! I don't care anymore, because whichever side wins, I will lose two of the three people I care about. So go on, kill me, I'm just so sick of it all!" Josh told him with a desperate and slightly crazy look in his eyes and Klaus' eyes turned yellow and his werewolf fangs showed up._

" _Wrong answer." He sped to him and grabbed him. Okay, come on, Caroline, it's now or never._

" _Klaus?" I called out softly and stepped out of the shadow, dizzy with fear. If Rebekah was wrong, I was going to die. I never imagined I would one day wish for Rebekah to be right about something._

_Klaus froze, let Josh go and slowly turned around. When his eyes found mine his eyes turned normal again, then they became soft and a hopeful, happy look reached them. His fangs vanished and a genuine, beaming smile broke out on his face. He completely seemed to have forgotten Josh._

" _Caroline? What are you doing here, love?"_

xxx

"You know, when I called out to you that day, I was so convinced that you would just kill me." I told him honestly, after we had ordered our food. "I never would have imagined that you would actually give up all of your revenge and war, just because I asked you too." It was then, that I had realized how stupid I'd been all along. All my life I had tried to be perfect, to make people love me and admire me, but had never really succeeded. Sure, I had friends and a couple of boyfriends, but I never was their first choice. There was always someone or something more important than me. And when I had finally found someone who put me above everything else, I had sent him away, making him promise to never return. That day, when he had given up his city and his home, just because I asked him, I had vowed never to make such a mistake again and had suggested to travel the world with him, until he finally got his daughter back, with whom I had to share being his number one now. But that was alright. It wasn't Elena, or some stupid revenge, or something like that. He was allowed to put his daughter up there with me.

"Do you really think Elijah will keep his promise?" He asked me, sounding sad and resigned.

"You just have to trust him, he always keeps his promises, you know that."

"I still can't trust him Caroline. Not after all he's done."

"You will get her back, Klaus, I'm sure of that. If Elijah doesn't keep his promise in two years, we'll find another way. Maybe Bonnie could help."

"So many witches already tried to find her and didn't manage, I doubt Bonnie will be any better. And I don't want to wait, love, I want to get her back now, not when she's an adult, however much sense it would make." He explained frustrated and I tried to cheer him up again.

"You know what? Someone just told me this morning, that we have all eternity, so what are another two years? Elijah only wants her to have a chance of growing up normal. It would be mean to go to her now, rip her away from her friends and the people she thinks are her family. Trust Elijah on this, please. And, in the meantime, you'll just have to spend your time with me." I quickly bent forward and kissed him lovingly and when we broke our kiss, he was smiling again.

"I guess you're right, love. So what does our schedule say for the rest of the evening? Don't tell me we have a free evening?" He teased me again and I stuck out my tongue at him.

"You wish! I have planned another two hours for our meal and then we go for a walk and visit some monuments by night!" I explained excitedly and Klaus chuckled and shook his head amused.

xxx

"So which city do you want to visit after Venice?" Klaus asked me curiously while we were walking over the piazza San Marco, looking at the basilica, which was beautifully lit.

"I don't know, I've never been in Europe. You've lived in Italy once, didn't you? You have to know which other cities are great. But I don't think it can be better than this."

"You said the same after Barcelona and Paris too." Klaus teased me and then continued. "We could go to Verona next and watch an opera in the amphitheater, if you would like to. Then we could visit Rome and Florence and ..." He was asking me excitedly, his eyes glittering. But suddenly he was interrupted by a loud bang and we turned around. In the middle of the nearly empty plaza a group of twelve people had suddenly appeared. They were all looking really strange, with no sense of fashion at all. Seriously? What was that they were wearing? Some kind of cloaks? In that weather? That must be very hot...

Even thought it was nearly one a clock at night, it was still so warm, that I was really comfortable in my short blue summer dress.

And what were they doing with the ridiculous sticks in their hands?

They all seemed to search the place for something and when the gaze of a creepy black-haired woman met mine, she said something to the others and they all went in our direction, raising their sticks threateningly. Oh really? Fashion ignoramuses, with hideous haircuts and wooden sticks, plopping out of nowhere in the middle of the night! Great! And that woman definitely needed a straightening iron!

I groaned. I wasn't even travelling with Klaus for a month and there was already trouble.

When they were standing in front of us, a guy with long, blond hair spoke up.

"I'm assuming you are Klaus? It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lucius Malfoy." Recognition came over Klaus' face, he obviously knew who this was supposed to be.

"Yes, that's me. What do you want?" He looked over the group, not really friendly, but not threatening either.

"The Dark Lord says you are to come to England and work for him again." Another guy ordered him haughtily and Klaus chuckled. The blond dude and the crazy haired woman looked horrified.

"Dolohov! Shut up and let me talk! He is not someone you can order around!"

"What's your problem Malfoy? Scared of those two little lovebirds? They are completely outnumbered, so they either come with us, or we force them." He said arrogantly. I got angry. I would not let my holiday with Klaus be destroyed by this idiot!

"Excuse me? Who do you think you are! We're on holiday, and I don't plan to go to England just because some lunatics show up and babble something about a dark lord, what kind of stupid nickname is that anyway?" I told them angrily and they seemed outraged.

"I will not let you disrespect the dark lord like this!" One of them screamed and then pointed his stick on me and muttered something.

A pain, like I've never felt before hit me and I started to scream. The last thing I heard was Klaus' furious growl, then everything went black.

...

When I opened my eyes again, I was sitting on the floor, Klaus holding me in his arms. There was still a dull ache in my whole body, but the blinding pain was gone.

"Caroline? Caroline? Are you okay?" He asked me, concerned, and I looked up.

The place was a mess. All around me were bodies, ripped off heads or hearts and a lot of blood on the floor. It was silent except for distant screams of some hysterical humans.

Only the blond man and the woman were still standing in front of us, looking slightly weary, but not sad that Klaus had killed the rest of the group. I wasn't exactly sad either. While I would have preferred for Klaus not to slaughter ten people in the middle of Venice, I couldn't blame him, especially after they attacked me.

"Yes, it's okay now. Can we just go back to the hotel?" I finally replied quietly and snuggled deeper into his safe arms. He kissed my temple, picked me up and stood up slowly. He thoughtfully looked at the two humans in front of us. Then he seemed to have an idea and his eyes lit up.

"You two know who I am, so you better go back to England now and tell Tom that, if he wants my help, he better comes personally. If anyone else bothers us, they will end up dead too. I don't follow anyone's orders, tell him that. If I help him, I expect something in return." He told them threateningly and they nodded silently and with a plop they were gone.

"What was all that about? You already have something in mind, don't you?" I asked Klaus tiredly. By the confident way he stood right now, I was sure he had a plan. He wanted something from that Tom guy and I had no clue, who that even was. Maybe the guy with the funny nickname. 'Dark lord'... now that I thought about it, it did sound like someone Klaus would be friends with.

To my surprise, my question made Klaus smiled hopefully, his eyes glittering devilishly.

"I might just have found a way to get my daughter back."


	7. Pets and Punches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a little accident in DADA.

_ First week of October _

_ Hermione: _

 

I sighed, relieved, when I finally found the book that I had been looking for. It was the updated version of a book, called 'The collectors guide for magical beings', which was one of the only books covering Hybrids as a species.

I had asked McGonagall for a permission slip for the forbidden section today after our transfiguration lesson. I had explained to her that she had gotten me curious with her story about a hybrid and that I wanted to learn more about different magical creatures, so that I would be able to defend myself against them, if it was ever necessary. After I had said that, she was strangely silent at first and looked at me with a sad expression, then finally she had relented. 'I guess it really would be best if you knew how to fight off monsters', and, just like that, she had signed the permission slip and I went to spend my free period in the library.

From the outside, the book didn't look like it belonged in the forbidden section. It was very new and had a bright blue cover. I opened it and realized that it listed all creatures in alphabetical order.

Let's see... Grindelow... Hellhound... Hippogriff... House elf! I stopped for a moment and looked at the pages to see what opinion the author had. Disgusted, I stared at the picture of a house elf punishing himself and quickly turned the page. Hybrid. There it was.

* * *

** Hybrid (werewolf + vampire) **

_ The most commonly known use of the term Hybrid, describes a combination of werewolf and vampire. For other Hybrids, look at Hybrid (wizard + werewolf) or Hybrid (Centaur + Hippogriff). _

_ Classification: _

_ Because of their highly violent nature, Hybrids are – like Sphinx and Acromantula - classified by the ministry of magic in the category of Beasts, not as Beings. They are, therefore, not placed with vampires and werewolves - in human form - which were both granted the 'Being' status. _

_ On the hazard scale, they were given XXXXX (known wizard killers, and impossible to train or domesticate), which is the highest possible score. So we advise not to keep them as pets without long experience dealing with dangerous beasts. _

_ Appearance and lifestyle: _

_ Most of the time, Hybrids look like humans, but they can complete a half-change into werewolf, which turns their eyes yellow and their teeth into fangs, or they can become a full wolf whenever they like. This is especially a treat for your children who always wanted a dog to cuddle with. But do NOT leave them unattended! _

_ They can reproduce with werewolves, but it is unknown what such a cub would be like, because no wizard has ever managed to successfully breed Hybrids and the only one born in the wild died shortly afterwards. _

_ Natural habitat: _

_ Hybrids are most commonly found in the USA, particularly in Virginia and Louisiana. Theoretically, they would also be able to live anywhere else, but there have never been sightings in Europe. Because of their classification as XXXXX, according to law, sightings have to be reported to the ministry of magic at once. _

_ If you want to catch one for your collection, however, we suggest not reporting them, because the legal requirements for keeping a Hybrid are impossible to meet. _

_ Population: _

_ Hybrids are a very rare species. There was only one known Hybrid, until the late 70s, when their population went up to nearly 30. Due to infighting, most of them died and now Hybrids are nearly extinct. So due to wildlife protection, they now might only be killed out of self-defense. _

_ Creation: _

_ Only werewolves can be turned into Hybrids, by drinking a Hybrids blood and then dying, but the exact process still remains unknown. _

_ The last Hybrid was created in the 70s, so it is suspected that a key ingredient, which would be necessary, is missing now. _

_ This makes it impossible to create more of them, which raised their market price considerably. _

_ History: _

_ When the first vampires were created a thousand years ago, one of them had werewolf genes in his blood and turned into a hybrid, but a curse was put on him to suppress his werewolf side. _

_ Hybrids were involved in the supernatural fighting in the USA in recent years and are responsible for many deaths of humans and creatures alike. _

_ During this, one of the Hybrids took over a pack of werewolves, which enabled the werewolves to control their changes, just like the Hybrids. Before you try and catch a Hybrid, it might be a good idea to add a werewolf to your collection (look at page 398 for information on werewolves).  _

_ Abilities: _

_ A hybrid is very physically strong and might even be able to beat a giant or dragon in a fight. _

_ They can walk in the sun and control their changes into wolves. _

_ This makes them very useful as guard dogs to protect the weaker beasts in your collection, but it may also be possible that your Hybrid takes that as an insult and kills the other creatures. _

_ Weaknesses: _

_ A Hybrid can only be killed by extracting the heart or decapitation. _

_ It is not known if this also applies for Klaus, the first ever Hybrid, who is said to be immortal. _

_ They can only enter a house after being invited in, are vulnerable to wolfsbane and vervain and are attracted by blood. _

_ Catching your own Hybrid: _

_ The best way to get a Hybrid for yourself is to lead one of them in a trap and weaken it with wolfsbane, and/or vervain, and then bind it with magic. _

_ (It should be noted here, that no wizard ever managed to catch a Hybrid and survive.) _

_ Care: _

_ If you finally managed to catch your own Hybrid, caring for them tends to be quite expensive. _

_ A Hybrid feels most comfortable if it is kept in a big house instead of a cage, so we suggest putting boundary spells on the house and a protection spell on yourself and any visitors. _

_ You regularly have to get them muggles to feed from, but they also need strong alcohol to function properly and might enjoy sweets. _

_ Training: _

_ The successful training of a Hybrid is probably very hard, maybe even impossible and also depends a lot on the specific specimen. Some might be easier to control than other, so you just have to try it out. _

* * *

Well, I think I just found the book Hagrid got his strange ideas from, like that it was okay to keep dragons or an Acromantula as a pet... Who in their right mind would try to catch a Hybrid to keep as a pet? They didn't sound very friendly! This book didn't help me much with my research about Klaus. It even only said he was immortal. But Elijah and McGonagall had once found a way, didn't they? If the order had known that Voldemort was trying to recruit Klaus, maybe that was the reason they asked Elijah to come to England. He could protect Hogwarts, help the order beat Klaus and Voldemort and maybe even teach us how to defend ourselves against Klaus. Now if we would only learn spells, so we could defend against deatheaters and Voldemort too...

I looked down at the book again. Under the text there was a disturbing moving picture, apparently taken while the photographer had hid behind some trees. It showed a boy around 16 shooting a crossbow on a Hybrid, standing in front of a girl, on the porch of a big house, then the boy ran into the house, returned with an axe and chopped off the head of the motionless Hybrid.

I shuddered and closed the book disgusted. At that moment the bells rang and I quickly put the book back into the shelf and left for lunch. I guess I just had to ask Elijah or McGonagall for more information.

Xxx

"When does Snape expects us to do all this homework? Tomorrow there's a Hogsmead weekend and we have Quidditch training on Sunday!" Ron complained loudly, as we walked into the DADA classroom with the other Gryffindors. Elijah was already leaning against a wall, waiting for the whole class to arrive. He smiled at us when we entered and I sat down on a mat with Harry and Ron.

"Yeah, the bat was absolutely horrible today. How many points did he take off Gryffindor? At least 40 and now we're at the last place in the run for the house cup!" Dean agreed with him, glancing worriedly to Elijah, as he noticed him standing there, but Elijah didn't seem to mind him calling Snape a bat.

"Sometimes I wonder if the rumors about him are true, you know. The one that he is a vampire." Lavender enlightened us with her insight. "He's always down in the dungeons and he's so pale and the way he walks, he really seems like an overgrown bat." She whispered and suddenly we heard someone chuckling. We turned and saw Elijah who stared at us with a look of total disbelief on his face and trying to control his smirk.

"Living in dungeons, being pale and walking like an overgrown bat are the features by which you identify a vampire? Did you never cover them in this class?" He asked us, amused, and I answered truthfully.

"Well…we did. But our first and second year teachers weren't exactly competent. In our first year Prof. Quirrel just told us to always carry around garlic as protection against them and the next year Prof. Lockhart acted out the story from one of his books. It was about a vampire that he fought and ended with the vampire only eating lettuce afterwards. And with Prof. Lupin we only touched the subject shortly at the end of our third year, but he told us learning about vampires was not as important, as there are nearly no vampires living here in Britain, so he concentrated more on the creatures we would be more likely to face."

"Did he, really? Well, he is mostly right, as the wizard community is very strong here, vampires living here either have to be very secretive, or follow the rules of the ministry, which, by the way, is very prejudiced against them. The witches in America or Eastern Europe, for example, are much less powerful, which is why the majority of vampires chose to live there. But I imagine that Voldemort will try to recruit them again for the upcoming war, promising them more rights in the new society he wants to create. If I remember correctly that was what he did the last time. If you take into consideration, it might be important for you to defend yourself against one. I suppose I could teach you how to fight them in one of the coming lessons, maybe even invite one, if you would like to meet a real, non-lettuce eating vampire?" He asked us, smirking, but also looking thoughtful, as if he was already planning the lesson.

"A real vampire? Are you serious? Isn't that much too dangerous?" Lavender looked at him, clearly horrified. Elijah smirked, still amused.

"Oh I can assure you, you would not be in any danger. And, if he agrees, you may even have the opportunity to try and fight him."

"That sounds awesome!" Seamus exclaimed and apparently most of the Gryffindors agreed with him as they all looked really excited. It really was a great idea, especially if vampires and this Klaus started working with Voldemort, Klaus was half vampire too, wasn't he?

"It's settled then. I will contact one of my acquaintances and see when he can come." I was really looking forward to that lesson! Meeting a real vampire sounded very interesting. The things I could ask him!

We waited a few more minutes until all the Slytherins had arrived too and then Elijah started the lesson.

"Today, we will do a little experiment so that you have the opportunity to test your skills with your other classmates, as well as practice fighting  _ with _ a partner. Please pair up and then each pair takes four of these ribbons. You will then fight against the other pairs and the winner gets one of the ribbons from the other team. Try to win as many ribbons as you can. And only fight members of your own house for now. I don't want for anyone to end up in the hospital wing." He explained todays exercise.

xxx

"Ouch! Neville! Can't you pay attention for once?", I cried out, when he stepped on my hand, trying to get out of Ron's headlock while I was holding Harry to the ground.

The last three fights had went surprisingly well, considering I was once again in a team with Neville. We had only lost the fight against Dean and Seamus.

"Oh, sorry, Hermione! I didn't see you there." Neville quickly apologized as I rubbed my hand, which was hurting pretty bad, and stood up. Elijah had just left the classroom to fetch some more healing potions from the hospital wing, so I had to wait until he got back if I wanted to take one. Ron let Neville go instantly and Harry sat up as soon as I had let go of him. All three boys looked at me concerned and suddenly I felt myself getting angry.

"Well it's not as if it's a big surprise! You nearly always manage to accidently hurt me or anyone else you're teaming with!" I hissed at Neville, intending to hurt him with my words. I knew it was mean, but I couldn't stop myself.

"Why do I always have to be in a team with this idiot anyway?" I turned my anger against Harry and Ron now. "You never think about me! Why doesn't one of you pair up with Neville every once in a while? Why does it always have to be me?" I shouted at them angrily. Ron just looked at me sheepishly, while Harry at least had the decency to look apologetic. He slowly stood up and held up his hands, trying to calm me down.

"Hermione, we're sorry, we didn't realize you minded-" I interrupted him, my anger only growing with every second.

"Oh of course you didn't! Why would you ever even think about my feelings? That I might feel left out when you and Ron always work together! You two are supposed to be my friends! But the only time you ever seem to care about it is when you need something from me! Just like everyone else!" I screamed and shoved Harry back angrily. He stumbled but didn't manage to catch himself and landed on the floor again, looking up at me with wide and worried eyes. The whole class was watching us now. I realized I was being irrational and unfair, but I didn't care. I had completely lost it and felt absolutely murderous. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm myself, but Ron choose this exact moment to interrupt me.

"Oh, come on, aren't you exaggerating a bit? I told you, you're working too hard. School isn't everything. You have to relax once in a while." And finally I just snapped. The burning anger overwhelmed me and I only wanted to hurt Ron.

I turned towards him and punched him, before he had a chance to react. He staggered backwards and I quickly grabbed his throat and pushed him against the nearest wall. Ron stared at me frightened and tried to get out of my grip, but I didn't let him go.

"Working too hard? Part of that is due to the fact that I always have to help you two lazy idiots too! Maybe I should just stop caring, huh, RON!" I squeezed tighter and drew my wand, pointing it

at his face, trying to think of the most painful spell I knew. Suddenly I heard a voice close behind me. "Hermi-"

They were trying to stop me! I couldn't let them! I wanted to hurt Ron and I would get rid of anyone trying to get in the way! Without thinking I turned around fast and punched whoever was standing behind me in the face. Horrified I watched as Elijah turned his face back in my direction and looked at me with a strange expression. It looked like he couldn't decide if he should comfort or kill me. That snapped me back into reality as my anger was overthrown by blind panic. What had I done! I had just hit a teacher! They were going to expel me for that! What was I going to do with my life? I couldn't leave school! Especially now! The ZAGs were at the end of the year and without them I didn't have anything! And Voldemort was back! Harry needed my help, fighting him. He and Ron would be absolutely helpless without me. They would never get their ZAGs! Oh my god, Ron!

I turned around to look at Ron. When I saw him I felt a gigantic wave of guilt hit me, nearly crushing me beneath it. He looked at me with wide, terrified eyes, rubbing his throat with the one hand and holding his bleeding nose with the other. I couldn't take it. I couldn't take all the accusing eyes around me, all the people staring at me, the guilt from having hit Ron and Elijah and the panic about being expelled. And underneath all that, the horrible anger was still bubbling. It all suddenly became too much and without a second thought I fled the classroom as fast as I could with my vision blurred by the tears gathering in my eyes.

I haven't had a destination in mind, but when I stopped running, I noticed that my feet had carried me right to the prefect's bathroom.

xxx

"Hermione? Are you in there?" I heard Harry ask quietly from the door.

"Go away, Harry!" I sniffed. I still couldn't stop my tears, even though nearly all the bubbles were gone already.

"Come on, Hermione, we've searched the whole castle for you! You've been in there for hours! And we brought you some sandwiches, you must be starving!" In truth I wasn't the least bit hungry. Only boys could think about eating in a situation like this! But Harry had said 'we' and maybe that meant Ron was with him?

"Okay, just give me a minute." I told him shakily and quickly got out of the bath and dressed.

When I stepped out of the room, I saw Harry and Ron standing in front of the door, both looking at me concerned. I instantly wrapped my arms around Ron, hugging him tightly.

"Oh, Ron, I'm so, so very sorry! I don't know what got into me! I didn't mean all those things I said." I told him honestly, trying to keep my tears away, as I felt him hug me back.

"It's alright, Hermione, like I said, you probably worked too hard. And we were acting like idiots lately. But you were downright scary! Are you sure you are okay?" He asked me worriedly, but Harry interrupted us.

"Hey guys, dinner will be finished soon and then a lot of people are going to pass here. Let's go somewhere more private. How about Myrtle's bathroom?" He suggested and I quickly let go of Ron. Harry was right and I didn't fancy seeing anyone else right now. The whole school probably already knew what had happened in DADA and I wanted to spend a bit more time with my friends before McGonagall found me to tell me I was expelled.

Quickly, we snuck down to the second floor, being careful not to be seen. We sat down on the stairs to the sinks and Harry offered me a sandwich. I hesitantly looked at it.

"I guess this is going to be my last meal in Hogwarts. Strange. I was always so sure that if I was ever going to be expelled, it would be because of one of your stunts that you dragged me into." I told them, my voice barely a whisper, as new tears started to gather in my eyes.

Harry quickly wrapped his arm around my shoulder and tried to calm me down.

"Hey, Hermione, it's not that bad. I'm sure you're not going to be expelled."

"Not expelled? Harry, I hit a teacher! When he stopped me from hurting, Ron! Prof. Mikaelson must have been furious!"

"Actually, he wasn't. He didn't even seem angry. He was more worried. After you ran out of the classroom, he gave me a handkerchief; took 50 points of Gryffindor for all the fighting; told us to let you cool down first before we went looking for you and then just continued with the lesson. And Fred and George overheard him talking to McGonagall, convincing her that it was only an accident and  _ not _ to expel you." Ron explained to me and grabbed one of the sandwiches. I felt like a heavy weight was just lifted from my chest and started grinning.

"Are you sure? I'm not going to be expelled?" I was so happy that I hugged them both as strong as I could and then took a big bite from my own sandwich. I had never tasted something more delicious!


	8. Council meetings and other disasters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We look into Marcel's head to get a little idea of what is going on in New Orleans.

_ Half a hour after end of last chapter: _

_ Marcel: _

 

Exhausted I let myself fall back on the couch next to Rebekah.

"Ugh. I'm so glad this is over. Next time, please, let's not invite Kol." I suggested tiredly and Rebekah chuckled lightly.

"Oh come on, the dinner was a success, everyone is still alive, aren't they?" She replied optimistically.

"Yeah, but this new leader of the humans cut it pretty close. And if you hadn't stopped Jackson before he bit me..." I shuddered remembering it.

xxx

" _ Another 37 people have turned up dead in the last week alone! You're the vampire leader Marcel, so do something to protect the locals, or I will be forced to break the peace!" The new human leader complained and threatened me, staring at me challengingly. Rebekah quickly threw me a warning glance and I forced myself to be polite. _

" _ I don't believe those were all vampire attacks. Wasn't there a full moon last Wednesday? Most of those bodies showed up near the French quarter, last time I checked, that was werewolf territory." I countered. Of course I knew very well that it wasn't the werewolves. Most of them were in Hayley's pack and therefore didn't even have to change anymore, anyway. But that was a detail we had decided to keep from Major Jenkins and maybe I could steer the annoying rant, which I knew was coming, away from me and against the werewolves? Besides, I had turned blaming the werewolves into an art during the war, as it had sometimes been the only thing that had kept my people from Elijah's wrath when they messed up, so it came to me very naturally. But, of course, Jackson had to take everything personally again. He stood up angrily at once and glared at me. I also noticed the disapproving look I got from Rebekah. _

" _ What are you trying to say? I have my people under control, unlike you it seems!" Jackson growled and I quickly tried to defend myself. _

" _ Yeah, but the problem isn't my vampires, it's Elijah's! What do you suggest I do, huh? Now that he freed them from the compulsion they don't want to follow anyone's orders anymore! They've been forced into this war and now they're angry, what do you expect?" I explained my problem to the other faction leaders and they went silent, trying to think of a solution. I watched them all carefully. _

_ The human leader, Major Jenkins, was still looking angry and he somehow felt completely out of place here. Like some kind of intruder. And when I took in the expressions of the others, I understood why. _

_ Everyone else at this table had two things in common: We all had fought in the war, whereas the Major had only been elected afterwards. He didn't understand it like we did. But the second thing was even more important: we were all somehow connected to the Mikaelsons. We were all part of this messed up group of monsters that called themselves a family, as ironic as that might sound after the 15 years of fighting each other, trying to kill each other. I looked from Hayley's concerned and thoughtful expression to Jackson's scowling, angry face, to the mischievous glint in Kol's eyes, which told me that he was plotting something again, and then my eyes followed his arm, that was casually wrapped around Davina's shoulders and I briefly looked at her older, much harder, face. I felt a sting in my heart as she threw me a hateful glare. I was still hoping she would one day forgive me. I quickly looked away again. _

_ But no matter how hard we all tried to destroy each other, we all came out of it alive. And now that Elijah and Klaus were gone, maybe we could try to work together again. We all had the same goals. And we would stick together. Like a family. I quickly shook my head at that ridiculous thought. I had spent too much time listening to Elijah's rambling. I returned my attention to the Major. _

_ He threw first Jackson and then Davina a disbelieving look and then turned angrily to Rebekah. _

" _ Didn't you hear what I said? Locals are killed despite the peace treaty and it's obviously Marcel's fault! He should have the vampire's under his control and if he doesn't he is not fit to be a faction leader and someone else should be appointed!" He cried out and everyone watched him, thoroughly amused. In every single one of our meetings, he wanted someone else removed as a leader. If we listened to him we probably would have a completely new council in less than a week. Maybe that was his goal all along. But we couldn't get rid of him unless we wanted to risk a war with the humans. And we all were tired of war and bloodshed. _

_ After a short silence, Rebekah spoke up. _

" _ Major Jenkins, as you very well know, the decision to remove Marcel from the position as faction leader either has to come from the faction itself or has to be decided democratically by the council. And I don't think anyone here would agree with you. So instead of trying to blame everything on Marcel, maybe you should help us think about a real solution for this problem." She told him coldly, but astonishingly calmly and the Major looked as if he had been slapped in the face and he turned an even deeper shade of red. _

" _ Oh great! Why did I even think the concerns of the humans would matter to this council full of monsters? We didn't even get a say in your election to 'Queen'! But, of course, I forgot, you were so generous to grant us a seat in the city council at least! Where we can't change a thing! It's only a pretense to keep us quiet and under control. Instead of paying us back for the years of unnecessary war and horrendous human 'collateral damage'! And now you just let the murders continue!" He started to rise from his seat, as if going to attack Rebekah, but before he could do anything, he collapsed on the floor, holding his head. _

" _ What? He's incredibly annoying!" Kol replied casually when everyone looked at him accusingly. For once I agreed with him. _

" _ Do we even need a human leader anyway? It's not as if there's anything they can do, except complaining. I'm slowly beginning to think my brothers might have been right to kill all the former ones." He drawled on, sitting relaxed in his seat, the mischievous glint still in his eyes, only waiting for the explosion he knew that statement would cause. And suddenly all hell broke loose. So much for sticking together, I thought cynically as I jumped in to save Kol from Hayley's fangs. _

xxx

I signed again as I remembered it, silently cursing Kol in my head. Of course he knew always which buttons to push to cause chaos. The others all still held too much hatred for Elijah and Klaus, so Kol's comment had resulted in a fight that didn't even have sides. It was only an outlet of all our aggressions for which the real sources were out of reach. And completely immortal. Stupid Originals.

So instead we had fought each other, wrecking the whole dining room until Rebekah got us all to finally calm down.

"You know, sometimes I ask myself why I'm still here. All those years fighting over a city which is barely more than a ruin. Klaus and Elijah destroyed it. And yet here I am, cleaning up their mess, while both of them are holidaying in Europe. How's that fair?" Rebekah complained and I quickly went and got us both drinks, than sat back down next to her.

"Isn't that what it's always like with your family? They start a fight, hurting everyone in their wake and in the end, they're the only ones for whom things turns out okay. We still haven't found a solution for the vampire problem. If Elijah hadn't-" We both jumped to our feet when the fire suddenly flared and turned green for just a moment. And then there was a head in the flames. We carefully took a few steps in it's direction and stared. How was that possible?

"Elijah? What the heck? How did you do that?" Rebekah asked him, with a mixture of complete disbelieve and awe. Speaking of the devil...

Elijah seemed to be nearly as surprised as we were and looked around the room amazed, apparently completely unbothered by the flames around him. That had to be some kind of exotic witch's spell. I was sure none of the witches that I had known ever heard of something like that. And I had known a whole lot of powerful witches.

"Good evening to you too, Rebekah. Marcellus. As I have already told you in my letter, I'm currently unable to use my phone. But I was made aware of this alternative by a friend of mine. And I wished to see how you are doing." He explained and Rebekah stared at him.

"Oh you're talking about the letter you sent with a goddamn  _ owl _ in which you told me you went to England to become a teacher? What kind of crazy freak school are you teaching at? And since when did you want to become a teacher?" She asked him a bit angrily, apparently remembering the bird, which had been obsessed with her nail polish and had tried to eat her fingers until we finally got rid of it again. I started grinning as I remembered that event.

Elijah chuckled lightly.

"Occasionally I find myself doubting this decision too. Do you recall the particular type of wizards that we met in England 500 years ago? The ones who rely, nearly completely, on their wands? I'm currently teaching at a school for exactly this brand of magic. An old acquaintance of mine is the deputy headmistress and, as of right now, they are at the beginning of a war against a powerful dark wizard. Due to my vast experience with this problem, she convinced the headmaster to hire me." He told us slowly. He probably hadn't wanted to put this kind of information in a letter delivered by a bird... I still needed some time to swallow all the news.

So he went from fighting one war to go and join another. Somehow I wasn't really surprised anymore. Everyone had always known Elijah as the honorable brother, the one who wouldn't intentionally kill innocent people. In truth it just took him longer to snap and lose his temper than most. And when he did, he was even more terrifying and efficient than his brother. And even though I had spent nearly a decade fighting on his side, I was very glad he was gone now. I drowned out Rebekah and Elijah's chatting as I thought back to that day that destroyed Davina's love for me.

xxx

" _ What are you doing, Crystal?" I asked her suspiciously as she and the other witches started to surround me and the two vampires that were with us. We were supposed to find some ingredients Davina needed for another one of her attempts to resurrect Kol. One of those was some kind of flower that grew in swamps, so now we were in the middle of the Bayou and – how could it go so terribly wrong – surrounded by werewolves. But instead of getting us all out of here, the witches had apparently decided to help the wolves rather than us. Great. _

" _ What do you think, Marcel? We're so sick of working with you or doing what that stupid girl wants us to do. She has been a traitor from the very beginning, when she helped you suppress the witches after the failed harvest ritual." She spat the words out, her voice full of hatred. _

" _ And now she has us fighting side by side with vampires and, instead of using her powers to end this war by killing one of the Mikaelsons already, she wants to use them to bring another one of them back from the dead!" As much as I hated it, in this aspect I agreed with her. Bringing Kol back sounded like the worst idea ever. But I saw how much Davina had loved him, how much she was missing him still and I so much wanted to see her happy again. Even if it meant resurrecting Kol. Now an evil grin appeared on Crystal's face. _

" _ So we made a deal with the werewolves, luring you into a trap. Without you, your little vampire army isn't worth a thing." She explained smugly, while the wolves around us slowly advanced. Then suddenly they attacked. Brian and Patricia – the vamps that accompanied me – didn't stand a chance and I couldn't help them as I was crouching on the ground, blinded by a horrible headache. _

" _ Goodbye Marcel." Crystal told me cruelly and then one of the werewolves jumped at me, teeth glinting in the sun, ready to rip me into shreds. _

_ And suddenly he was gone. I looked around confused, just like all the others and then I noticed a figure, standing in the shadows of the trees, grinning menacingly, his normally immaculate suit ripped in places and splattered with blood. I wasn't sure what he was planning to do. _

_ He and the werewolves didn't get along too well, sure, but last thing I heard was that he had made some kind of peace with Hayley. So maybe he was here for me, to gain some kind of leverage against Davina? _

" _ Good afternoon. I really would prefer to honor the non-aggression pact I made with Hayley, so I kindly suggest you leave now." He threatened the wolves and they ran as quickly as they could. It wasn't often, these days especially, that Elijah decided to spare someone's life.  _

_ Once they were gone, the slaughtering started and, in the blink of an eye, the hearts of the witches were scattered on the ground. Now there were only the two of us left. Slowly he turned around as I tried to stand up. _

_ It said a lot about his mindset, that instead of taking out a handkerchief, he slowly licked the blood off his hands, his fangs out. I gulped heavily. He turned his eyes on me and watched me thoughtfully for a moment and then spoke, his voice cold, without his usual politeness. _

" _ Marcellus. What a spectacular coincidence it is meeting you here." He began slowly and a shiver ran down my spine. Yeah. 'Coincidence'. He knew exactly that he would find me here, of that I was sure. _

" _ What do you want, Elijah?" I asked him directly, sounding much more confident than I felt, and his expression turned even darker. _

" _ That actually is a very good question. Only yesterday I probably wouldn't have hesitated to kill you. Or perhaps take you with me. Depending on my mood, of course. You would have been great leverage against, both, Davina and my brother, not to mention the information you could have provided on your little witch friend. Today, however, it depends on what you choose to do." I gulped once, then put on my usual bravado. _

" _ Choice? If you think I will betray Davina, you're wrong. Do whatever you want, you won't get anything out of me." Of course, that was a lie. Drinking vervain could only protect me as long as it was in my body. Once it was gone, he could turn me into a mindless slave if he wanted to. As he had done with so many other vampires. I decided to distract him from that possibility. _

" _ You might have been able to convince them to tell you anything about Davina if you had stopped to think for a second before killing them." I gestured towards the dead witches, but Elijah didn't even turn his eyes away from me for one second. _

" _ They would only have joined Niklaus. He has been trying to recruit witches for quite some time now, as you surely know. Concerning the choice you have to make: I want you to help me. Niklaus has Rebekah. He daggered her when she refused to choose a side. And I would very much like to have her back." He explained and, for a split second, I could see a deep sadness in his eyes, then it was gone again. I felt anger rise in me. Since the very beginning of this war, Rebekah had tried to make a peace between her brothers, but of course that was a hopeless venture. _

" _ And why would you need my help to free her? Don't you have a whole army, compelled into doing whatever you tell them?" I asked him venomously. I still despised him for taking their free will, some of them even my friends, but I could also see his point. Klaus had a way of manipulating people into betraying each other. _

" _ They don't know my brother. They don't understand why he's so dangerous. I need someone who is able to help me outmaneuver him. So, this is my offer: assist me in saving my sister and then join me. Help me destroy Niklaus. Think about it Marcellus. How long will it take the rest of the witches to turn against Davina if you remain by her side? They despise you and they abhor vampires in general. But they have more power than you have and Davina will be safer with them, than she would ever be with you. And, most of all, you want for her to be safe. But, without the witches, you and your little army will not last long against my brother at all. Or against me, for that matter." He added darkly – a not so subtle threat. "You need me on your side, Marcellus." He explained calmly, but I understood the threat in the last two sentences. I thought about his words for a moment and came to the conclusion that, as much as I hated it, he was right. Sooner or later Davina would have to choose. And if she chose me, she would lose everything. Her allies, her power, her only chance to bring back Kol. _

_ I also had to think about all the vampires I turned, the new community I built with them. I turned my gaze to Brian and Patricia, two of my most loyal followers, my friends, murdered by our 'allies'. _

_ And then of course there was Rebekah. Sweet, innocent Rebekah, who was once again suffering because of Klaus. I had to help her. _

_ And suddenly I had my decision. It didn't matter what Elijah had done. No matter how many of my friends he had killed. He was my only chance. There was only one thing left. _

" _ Promise me you won't hurt Davina. I know she's trying to find a way to kill both you and Klaus, but promise me you won't hurt her, no matter what, and I will join you." I told him. Davina would never understand that I only left her in order to protect her and she would hate me for it but now the witches would hopefully stay loyal to her and she would keep her power. And, if Elijah agreed to my terms, there was only one person left that had the power to really hurt her. And I would do everything in my power to try and eliminate that one too. With Elijah on my side, I would find a way to kill Klaus. _

_ Elijah looked at me for a long time, starring into my eyes and I was beginning to worry. Then finally he nodded. _

" _ You have my word." I could only hope that this new, cold, more heartless version of him was still putting the same value to keeping promises. _

xxx

I turned my attention back to the present, when I heard Rebekah start to chuckle.

"So you're teaching a bunch of witches? And one of your students actually punched you? I think I might like that girl. Congratulate her for me, would you?" She teased him, smiling, but then suddenly became worried. "Please tell me she  _ is _ still alive."

Elijah threw her an indignant glare, but was still smiling at her.

"As far as I know, that  _ is _ still the case. Unless she happened to drown herself in the bathtub because she thought she was going to be expelled. She is a very ambitious person and looked positively devastated when she realized what she did. But I hope her friends found her soon enough." He smiled fondly and I caught something in his facial expression, which Rebekah seemed to have noticed too. She smiled teasingly at him.

"You like her, don't you? You should be ashamed! She is your student, Elijah!" She mocked him grinning and he just chuckled.

"Do not worry yourself. I hold no care for her in that way. Not everyone starts a relationship with a former student" He replied smoothly, throwing a glance in my direction and then looked back at Rebekah with a taunting grin.

"Speaking of Marcellus," his head turned to look at me now, "I was wondering if you or one of the other vampires would care to visit. My predecessors in this post have apparently been rather misinformed about vampires, so I wish for my students to be granted the opportunity of meeting a real vampire, I cannot very well let them continue to believe that a vampire could survive on lettuce, can I? But I cannot reveal my secret to them either." He explained his offer and I thought about it briefly, but then declined politely.

"Thank you, Elijah, but right now we're rather busy rebuilding the city and maintaining the peace. I do not have enough men to be able to send anyone away. I'm sorry. But if you want to do a lesson on werewolves instead, I'm sure Hayley and Jackson would agree." I suggested. The less werewolves in the city, the better. He raised his eyebrows at that.

"Oh, it is quite alright, I will find someone else. And considering the fact that the werewolves in New Orleans turned me into some kind of horror story to tell their children, I don't quite believe one would be willing to visit me. Furthermore, a lesson on werewolves probably won't be necessary as one of my predecessors actually was one." I stared at him in disbelief.

"WHAT? What did they do on the full moon? That headmaster  _ wants _ to have his whole school slaughtered, doesn't he? Well, I guess a werewolf can't be much worse than hiring  _ you _ either." They were a whole bunch of lunatics from the sound of it. I would definitely stay here in New Orleans!

"I never killed any children, Marcellus. Besides, the headmaster has the entirety of the school ingesting vervain. I ha-" He stopped suddenly and seemed to listen to something.

"Oh. Please, excuse me. It would seem that Hermione is standing in front of my office to apologize. I can hear her heartbeat from over here. I should not keep her waiting. Keep me informed on what is transpiring in New Orleans, Rebekah. I shall keep sending letters mostly. It is very tedious to get a long-distance fireplace connected to the floo network for even a mere few hours. But I will try to pick a nicer bird next time." He winked at Rebekah, and she smiled back at him.

And then, just like that, he was gone. I turned back to Rebekah and watched her carefully. The smile she had on her face while talking to Elijah slowly dissipated and she got a troubled look in her eyes. I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her tightly against me.

"You're worried about him, aren't you?" I asked her quietly and she leaned against me before answering.

"Yeah, I am. Is that stupid? My brothers are the most powerful beings on this earth and yet I can't cease worrying. At least, not about Elijah. I came to the conclusion that there's probably nothing that could destroy Nik." I kissed her forehead softly and tried to console her.

"Elijah is strong too. That evil wizard doesn't stand a chance. I could nearly feel bad for him. He probably doesn't even know what he's getting himself into." I grinned and actually managed to make a small smile appear on her face.

"I would still feel better if there was someone with him. He apparently had to hide what he is, even from those people who he fights for. What happens if this whole school of witches finds out that he's a vampire? The witches in Great Britain are very cruel to everything non-human."

Her words got me thinking. I didn't particularly care about Elijah, much less worry about him, but I wanted to put her mind at peace. She was worrying enough about the problems here. Suddenly I had a fantastic idea. What if we  _ did  _ send someone to him? Someone less honorable, less trusting, with much more insight of witchcraft? It might take some time and effort to make this happen, but if my plan would work, I could solve two of my problems at once. Instantly I felt much more cheerful and started to grin. I took another sip of my drink and then leaned back, pulling Rebekah onto my lap. I started to kiss my way up her neck and softly blew into her ear, trying to distract her from the weight on her shoulders. And finally she giggled and started to kiss me back.


	9. Unexpected consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione apologises to Elijah

_ Directly after chapter 8: _

_ Hermione: _

 

I took another deep breath, trying to calm myself down enough to finally find the courage to knock on Elijah's office door. Despite all my efforts, and Ron and Harry's insurance that Elijah wasn't angry with me, I still felt horribly guilty; my stomach was set in a tight knot and my heart was racing like crazy.

What could I ever say to make this right again? I had punched him when he tried to stop me from hurting my best friend! What would he think of me now? He was one of my favorite teachers and I had probably destroyed his respect for me now. And I still didn't even know how it could happen. How had I lost it like that? I wasn't a violent person! Sure I had hit Malfoy once, but that at least had had a reason. But thinking back to that day made me realize that I had felt the same anger then that I had felt today when I hit Ron, or last month when I had screamed at Trelawney. Before I could think about it any longer the door opened and Elijah stood in front of me.

"Hello, Hermione. Please do come in." He greeted me, smiling as if he had already expected me, and stepped aside to let me enter. He really didn't seem angry and I slowly stepped inside his office, unable to say anything as the guilt and nervousness were nearly suffocating me. Elijah closed the door after me and this time I only felt a tiny shiver run down my spine. He gestured for me to take a seat on one of the armchairs and as I did so I noticed a small jar of floo powder sitting on the table. I looked up a moment later, when Elijah sat down on the other armchair and handed me a cup of hot cocoa. I smiled at him thankfully and tried to think of what to say. He stayed silent, but smiled at me encouragingly, giving me the time I needed and finally I managed to stumble out an apology.

"I came to apologize to you, Professor Mikaelson." I started tentatively. "I'm really, really sorry for punching you. I have no idea what got into me." I told him sincerely and tried to look him in the eyes, as hard as that was, with the guilt still eating away on me. He watched me critically the whole time.

"Oh, it's quite alright. Nothing too serious happened. At least you did not kill Mr. Weasley." He tried to comfort me, but his voice sounded much too serious at the end. I felt like I had just been punched in the guts as I thought about that. About what could have happened. I had been completely ready to hurt Ron. I  _ had _ hurt him. His nose had been bleeding and there had been a slight bruise forming over his throat, where I had grabbed him. I quickly looked at Elijah, but couldn't see the slightest trace of a bruise on his face. Strange. Maybe I had hurt him so much that he took a healing potion? I felt sick again. But at least he and Ron had already forgiven me, unlike Neville. I hadn't had the chance to apologize to him yet, because apparently nobody had seen him after the DADA lesson.

And I knew it was my fault.

I had said all those horrible things to him. When I  _ knew _ how much that had to hurt him. I knew what it was like if no one really liked you. I had always been the annoying know-it-all that everyone disliked, until Ron and Harry had saved me from the stupid troll. I had hid myself in a toilet and cried more times than I could count. And now I had done that to Neville, when I was the closest thing he had to a friend. I had hurt him so much. Maybe even more than Ron or Elijah by punching them. The guilt I felt was overwhelming and I felt a tear run down my cheek, before quickly wiping it away. But Elijah had apparently noticed it already. He always noticed everything.

He quickly stood up and sat on the sofa next to my armchair and laid his hand on my shoulder, rubbing it slowly to try to comfort me. And at that I finally burst out in tears and started sobbing. Elijah seemed to be completely surprised with this reaction and looked at me distressed, not sure what to do.

"Hermione, why are you crying? If you are concerned about being expelled, I have already spoken to Minerva about it and convinced her not to do so. It is alright." He assured me. He thought that was what I was most worried about? I drew my knees up against my body, hugging them.

"Thank you, but that's... that's not it, Harry and Ron already told me. I'm just so... I don't know what's wrong with me! How could I say all those horrible things and how could I lose it like that and hit Ron and you? I'm so sorry and I don't know how to make it right again." I managed to explain between my sobs and wiped at my face again. Elijah only continued rubbing my shoulder, watching me gently.

"I'm not like that! I don't want to hurt people! I want to help them! And I hate violence! But in the last few months I get angry so easily and I can't control it and do things I feel so guilty for afterwards! My parents always taught me to solve conflicts peacefully and to think about the consequences of my actions. And I definitely should be expelled for today and they will be so disappointed in me when I tell them and..." I sniffed and had to stop my rambling when another sob shook my body. I noticed that Elijah's expression had turned to a mixture of pained and relieved at my last sentences and I quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry for this and for crying like this. Those are my problems and I came to apologize for hitting you and you shouldn't have to listen to this and..." I stumbled, looking down at the ground, unable to look him in the eyes anymore. I felt him standing up and buried my head between my arms, still hugging my knees tightly to my chest. I didn't want to see the disgust in his face. But instead of going away from me, like I expected, Elijah came to a stop directly in front of me.

"Hermione? Hermione, look at me, please." He asked me gently and I felt him reach out and softly put his hand on the base of my neck, again rubbing slightly. I managed to rise my head a little bit, still looking at the floor though. He sighed and carefully put two fingers under my chin, rising it slowly until I was looking at him. He smiled at me reassuringly.

"Hermione, you have to calm down. Everything will turn out alright. Everyone loses their temper once in a while. And considering the circumstances, I think you have shown amazing self-control. Just go and apologize to Mr. Longbottom and it will be fine. And you are  _ always _ welcome to come and see me if you have a problem." He told me calmly and I took a deep breath, sniffing again and tried to stop crying. Elijah rubbed my neck once again, then pulled his hand away and took a handkerchief out of his suit pocket, handing it to me, smiling.

"Thank you." I accepted the handkerchief and used it to wipe my face, while he stood up, relieved; sat back down in his armchair, and took a big gulp of his wine. I finally managed to stop my crying and picked up my cup of cacao, drinking a bit of it and letting the feeling of the warmth in my stomach relax me.

"You really aren't angry with me?" I asked him hesitantly, still not quiet believing him.

"No, I can assure you, I am not." Then he smiled at me proudly. "In fact, I am rather impressed. It has been quite some time since anyone succeeded in catching me off guard like that. And that punch was very good indeed. You must have had a great teacher." He tried to lighten my mood, smirking when he said that. I scrutinized him, a bit perplexed at his praise.

"How about I give 49 points to Gryffindor, for improving your skills like that and your apparent dedication to my subject?" He suggested gently, winking at me and I stared at him baffled. Was he serious? That... that was only one point less than he took from Gryffindor earlier.

"Professor, you... you can't do that..." I stuttered, completely caught off guard. I had expected that I would be punished, not that he would  _ reward _ me. He looked at me for a very long moment, then smirked at me again. Could I really have that much luck? I didn't only manage to hit the only teacher who wouldn't expel me for punching him, no, he even praised me and didn't even punish me! But then again, how much of that was really luck? Suddenly I felt my mood drop again. I didn't want to be treated special by a teacher. Yeah, I wanted them to like me, but it wasn't fair if Elijah just treated me differently because he liked me. Or because he was pitying me? That would be even worse! Would he also be as forgiving if it was someone else? Probably not. I had seen how he reacted to Lupin or Umbridge making him angry. Elijah seemed to notice my distaste and quickly explained.

"Can't I? I taught you how to defend yourself. You obviously felt threatened by me and reacted exactly how I taught you. I should have expected it. This could very well safe your life one day, so I think these points are well deserved. And I'm sure you will find a way to make it up to Mr. Weasley and Mr. Longbottom yourself. So I see no need for me to punish you." He told me calmly, as if it was his fault that he got hit. If he explained it like that it at least made more sense, but I still wasn't completely convinced.

"Thank you, but... Don't take me wrong or anything, I'm really grateful.", I started carefully and looked at my cacao. "I'm just wondering if you would react the same if it was someone else who hit you.", I told him slowly, hesitantly. I didn't want to directly accuse him of treating me differently. I looked back up at Elijah's face. He seemed to be thinking about this seriously, watching me intently, then he sighed deeply and took a long sip of his wine and looked at me again.

"That would depend largely on the situation. But I do believe that, in this particular instance, as you wanted to hurt neither me, nor Mr. Weasley, it would do no good for me to punish you, instead I would rather try and help you so that something like this won't happen again. If you would like that, I could perhaps ask my brother to create something for you, to control those anger outbreaks. He possesses an amazing knowledge about magical objects and may be able to charm a piece of jewelry to enable you to think more clearly in similar situations?" He suggested kindly. I quickly looked at him. What kind of question was this?

"Of course! That would be fantastic, but I don't want to be a burden or something!" I quickly told him. That sounded like a lot of work! I didn't even know it was possible to charm objects to influence the mood of someone. It had to be very difficult. I would definitely look for a book on that, the next time I was in the library. Elijah only smiled at me.

"Oh, I'm sure Kol will not mind. Then at least he will be busy and unable to get into, or cause, any mischief." He told me, grinning fondly yet a bit worried. I laughed at his expression, I knew that look from Percy whenever he was annoyed with the twins, and took the opportunity to find out something new about Elijah's family.

"Kol? Is he your younger brother or something? Where is he now?" I asked carefully. I hoped Kol wasn't the brother he had fought with, mentioning him would ruin the mood again. But seeing the small smile that came on Elijah's face at my question put my mind on ease.

"Yes, Kol is indeed my younger brother. He is currently in New Orleans, leading the city's faction of witches with his girlfriend, but, my sister informed me, that he's already causing trouble again." He told me, amused.

"I read an article in the prophet a few weeks ago. It said that a Rebekah Mikaelson was crowned as Queen? Is she your sister?" I asked him curiously, now that he seemed to be willing to share some information. He smirked.

"You did? I was unaware that the prophet considered New Orleans politics of any importance. But you are right, Rebekah is my little sister. She played a large part in ending the war that my brother and Kol's girlfriend and I were fighting and, as she stayed neutral for the most part during it, in the end she was the only person left that no faction felt real hatred towards, which was the reason why we made her the new queen." He explained carefully. He obviously knew my usual thirst for information, but at the same seemed to be worried what I would think.

I was nearly bursting with excitement to find out more about the organization of other supernatural communities. From the sound of that, there were different factions with equal rights and that instantly made me curious. Our ministry of magic always made it sound as if all magical creatures had to live under the rule of wizards, because everything would turn into chaos otherwise and suppress them. And that was an attitude I despised. But instead of peppering Elijah with questions about the political system of the American supernatural community, I stopped myself and thought about the other part of what he told me. He never talked much about his family, but now he had given me another tiny piece of information about them. And that was much more valuable for me. Hesitantly I asked the next question.

"In that article they also mentioned that she is a vampire. Is that true?" As soon as I had asked that, his eyes met mine, piercing through me and he slowly nodded.

"I'm not... I don't think that's bad or anything. I mean... Of course it's bad, I know it can't be easy for her or for your family that she was changed... but I wanted to say that I don't judge her or anything..." I quickly stumbled, not wanting him to think I was like one of those prejudiced wizards in the ministry. He smiled at me gently and I relaxed a bit.

"But isn't that difficult for you? I mean, if Rebekah is a vampire and Kol a wizard? I mean, because you've probably killed many of them, haven't you?" I questioned him and he looked at me confused.

"As far as I am aware, even though your former teachers in this subject may have been rather shady figures, I can assure you that having killed people isn't exactly in the job requirements. So what makes you say that?" He asked me curiously, but carefully and I realized that he, of course, didn't know yet that I knew that he was a hunter and was still trying to keep this a secret. I sighed and decided to confront him with my theory.

"Well, I kind of have a theory about you, okay? Because you never use magic, you know? I thought that was strange for a teacher, but you also seem to know a lot about the supernatural and Dumbledore wouldn't have asked a normal muggle – or squib I guess – to help fight against Voldemort. So I put the pieces together and guessed that you're some kind of monster hunter. Is that right? Because that must be very hard with a vampire sister and wizard brother and..." I stopped my rambling and looked into his face to see his reaction. He didn't seem very surprised, but somehow thoughtful and smirked at me, amused.

"Oh, you should meet the rest of my family. After all, Rebekah always has attempted to be the 'normal' one. But I do believe she has given up on that, now that she is ruling New Orleans. By the way, would you like to see a picture of her?" While he was talking he had quickly stood up to take a big photo album out of his book shelve. He was going to show me a picture? I felt my curiosity spike and eagerly took the heavy album when he handed it to me.

On the page that was open there were three pictures.

The first one showed two young women, in the background there was apparently some kind of party going on around a campfire. The left one had dark hair and was wearing a loose red shirt and a jeans jacket over what looked like a baby belly. On her right was a beautiful blonde with curly hair and a black jacket. Both were laughing at the camera. For some reason I suddenly had the feeling that I should know those women.

Before I could think about that, Elijah bent forward and pointed at the blonde girl.

"This one is her. She had made this photo album as a gift for me, before the whole war in New Orleans started." He told me, smiling, but I noticed the sad, almost broken look in his eyes, when his gaze flickered over the other pictures. I looked at the photo again. Rebekah looked nothing like I had imagined. I didn't really know who I had expected, but it wasn't her. Somehow I had imagined an older woman that was... more like Elijah! Maybe some lady in a formal dress in a big house. Not a  _ teenager _ having fun at a party! And she was now ruling New Orleans? But of course much had happened since then. She had even been turned into a vampire! She had to be more mature now.

I looked at the other woman again, feeling a deep ache in my chest as I did so, a sadness and longing, nearly overwhelming me. For a moment I was close to crying again. Why did this photo provoke such feelings? It was a very happy picture, so why was I feeling like that all of a sudden? Then I noticed the small baby belly again and I remembered the article I read again. I looked up at Elijah questioningly.

"The other girl, is she your sister-in-law?" I asked him hesitantly and an angry look flashed over his face.

"No." He nearly growled and I flinched a little. As he noticed that, his face became softer again and he explained a bit more, this time much calmer.

"She married someone else. But the child she's carrying in the picture is my niece." His voice was still bitter.

"The niece that was kidnapped?" I watched him carefully, but as he looked at me there was only a small smile on his face.

"I only have one niece. And she always meant the world to me." He told me slowly and I looked back down at the picture with this happy woman, who didn't yet know what terrible fate her child would face. I swallowed the lump in my throat and quickly turned my attention on the other pictures.

One showed Elijah in a suit like always, at his side a beautiful dark haired woman in a purple dress, carrying a violin case. The photo was taken from above, the two of them were walking down a street, towards the photographer, but didn't seem to notice him, as they were talking about something.

If I didn't know better, I would have said the last one was a photo of happy parents taking a picture with their child. But I instantly recognized Elijah, this time with a slight stubble on his cheeks, that I wasn't used to, and the way he held the little baby in the picture told me she could only be his niece. But who was the woman there with them? I again had some kind of deja-vu looking at her. She seemed to be a bit older than Rebekah, and her blond hair was a bit shorter. She was wearing a blue shirt and a dark yellow skirt.

"Who are the other two women?" I asked Elijah curiously. He had been watching me silently the whole time, watching me for some kind of reaction, but I wasn't sure what he expected from me. Now he turned his attention back to the pictures.

"Gia and Camille." He told me shortly, not looking at me and not giving me enough information to satisfy my natural thirst for knowledge.

"What happened to them?" My voice was only a quite whisper, cautious now.

"They're dead." He answered coldly and I felt a shiver run down my spine. Maybe I could cheer him up again? But I couldn't think of anything to say, as my gaze again wandered over the photos of the four women.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Elijah quickly rose to greet the visitor, throwing me an apologetic glance. I turned to look at the door. Elijah opened it and in came a very angry looking Professor McGonagall.

"Elijah, we have to talk. There had been anoth - ", she stopped in the middle of her sentence, when she noticed me. Her expression became a bit less furious.

"Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt you. I wasn't aware you had a visitor. I'm sorry Miss Granger, but I'm afraid I have to insist that you leave now." She told me stiffly, her tone not allowing any protest. Elijah threw me a quick smile and nodded and I quickly stood up and went to the door, where both of them were still standing.

"Have a good night, Hermione. And remember, you can always come to me if you have a problem." He told me, smiling, and I nodded gratefully. I quickly said good bye to both of them and then stepped out on the hallway, Elijah closing the door behind me.

Only when I was back in the Gryffindor common room did it hit me, that he had never answered my question if he was a hunter, instead he had effectively distracted me by showing me the photos. Oh well, I would get my answer sooner or later.

xxx

That night when I went to bed I was still wondering about Elijah and the pictures he had shown me and when I fell asleep I went through a series of strange little snapshots of dreams.

...

_ Rebekah at a playground, laughing at me, while I was swinging back and forth. _

...

_ Sitting in a car with Camille, driving somewhere. _

_ Suddenly a really bad feeling in my stomach and the car stopped. _

_ Then a big explosion in the distance. _

...

_ Hayley's face very close to mine, full of tears and in pain, but smiling as if none of that mattered. _

_... _

_ Hayley and Gia standing in a bedroom, talking about Elijah. _

…

" _ Hello Camille." _

" _ Elijah! You guys seriously have to stop scaring people like this. What are you doing here?" _

" _ As you surely know, it is my brother's birthday tomorrow and I wanted to give him a special gift this year." _

" _ Oh great. So you two are getting along again? Do you want me to help you find something?" _

" _ Not exactly, no. I'm sorry Camille. It is nothing personal." _

...

I woke up, sitting in my bed, my heart racing like crazy. I closed my eyes again, breathing slowly and tried to get rid of the horrible feeling in my stomach and the image of the cruel look in Elijah's eyes.

I had definitely spent too much time thinking about Elijah today, if my mind made up such strange dreams. I shook my head to clear my head of all that and tried to think of something else.

Finally I fell asleep again, this time dreaming about Neville convincing the whole school that I was an undercover Slytherin and had to be kicked out of Gryffindor. Which wasn't really any better.


	10. A ferocious beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a visitor at Hogwarts

_ Halloween: _

_ Hermione: _

 

"Hermione! Hey, Hermione!" I groaned when Parvati didn't stop shaking my shoulder and slowly opened my eyes.

"Finally! You have to get up if you still want to have breakfast! See you later!" She was already dressed and ready for lessons and left the room as soon as she saw me sitting up in my bed. I rubbed my eyes and threw a glance at the alarm clock sitting on my bedside table. No wonder she was in such a hurry, there were only 20 minutes until the first lesson. I groaned again, considering closing my eyes again for just a few seconds. I had planned the next DA meeting with Harry until late last night and thus had only gotten a few hours of sleep. We had started the meetings after the horrible Hogsmead weekend, when Katie had been attacked. She was still in even now, nearly a month later. After that I had finally decided to ask Elijah to teach us defensive spells in his lessons. I had even offered him that Harry and I read up on spells and show them to the others. Apparently though, the ministry of magic had explicitly banned defensive spells in DADA. And while Elijah had some kind of leverage against Umbridge that made her ignore his treatment of her and the muggle fighting lessons, which she considered harmless, he thought it wouldn't be enough to keep her quiet if she saw a real chance of getting rid of Dumbledore. And that was the last thing we wanted. So instead he helped me and Harry organize the DA and do all of this in secret. But that also meant a lot of extra work outside of school.

I caught myself just in time not to fall asleep again and quickly rose and went into the bathroom, where I splashed a hand full of cold water into my face to try and wake myself up a bit more. Then I started to work on the haystack that was my hair.

When I finally looked presentable, I quickly went down to the great hall to catch a bit of breakfast. I let myself fall on the bench next to Harry and Ron - who were engaged in a heated discussion about quidditch - greeted them grumpily and reached sleepily for the coffee. When I raised my head though, I looked right into the face of a completely unfamiliar guy sitting right across the table. I blinked sheepishly, then eyed him suspiciously. He clearly was none of the Griffindors, but I also couldn't remember ever seeing him in any of the other houses. The fact that he wasn't wearing a school uniform didn't help me with that. He seemed to be a bit older than we were and all the muscles under his grey shirt made him look taller than he probably was. But he had a nice face and kind brown eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" I knew I wasn't very polite, but I was still too tired to bother. Luckily he didn't seem to mind and offered me his hand over the table, smiling.

"Hi. I'm Stefan." I shook his hand but that information didn't really explain anything. I tried to get my sleepy brain to find an explanation for a stranger sitting at the Gryffindor table at breakfast. I blinked a few times but couldn't come up with anything. He seemed to notice and smirked, amused, before pouring coffee and milk into my cup and then putting it into my hand. I grabbed it gratefully and looked around me. The great hall was nearly empty as most students had already left for classes and we were running late. But the few that were still eating threw the occasional sneaky glance at him and whispered. He was drawing attention. At the teachers table Umbridge was throwing murderous glances at Dumbledore, who was talking cheerfully with Elijah, who seemed to ignore him mostly while throwing glances at Stefan and me. Well, if Elijah was still here, at least I didn't have to worry about showing up late for his lesson. I quickly took a few gulps of my coffee and turned my attention back at Stefan while grabbing a bowl of fruit salad.

"And what exactly are you doing here Stefan?" I finally gave up trying to figure it out on my own and he chuckled lightly.

"Are you always like this, or are you nicer once you're fully awake?" He laughed, still more amused than offended by my suspicious questioning. I blushed slightly. I really had to watch what I was saying.

"Actually I'm hiding here. These other girls were bugging me with their questions and I told that I was going to explore the castle and then came back here after I had finally managed to get rid of them. I figured they weren't going to look for me here and I could finish breakfast in peace. But then you showed up. And, I hate to tell you, but the others were a lot nicer. At least they told me their names, before starting an interrogation." He teased me and I started chuckling. I could so imagine Lavender and Parvati running after him, trying to flirt with him.

"I'm sorry. I'm Hermione. And yeah, I guess, I'm always this curious. But I normally try to be more subtle than that." I told him grinning sheepishly, finally waking up a bit while bolting down the fruit salad. A quick glance at the teachers table showed me, that Elijah had apparently managed to get away from Dumbledore and was standing up. I quickly threw an apologetic glance at Stefan.

"Sorry, I have to go now. See you around?" I was still curious what he was doing here and he hadn't answered any of my questions to my satisfaction! I hated situations like that!

He followed my glance, grinning. "No problem. You're in Elijah's first class?" When I nodded, slowly in my confusion, he only started grinning. "Well, have fun then. I'm sure it's going to be interesting today." He winked at me, smirking, but I didn't have much time to ponder about his words. I ripped the boys out of their discussion about quidditch tactics – seriously, how could anyone become so obsessed with a sport? They apparently hadn't even noticed me joining them for breakfast – and together we went to the DADA classroom.

"So did this guy – Stefan – say something to you, what he was doing here? I mean you guys were sitting right opposite from him?"

"Stefan? That's his name? Nah, we didn't really talk to him very much. The girls sat with him and later when he sat with us he didn't seem very interested in talking." Ron explained to me when we had reached the classroom.

"He told us Dumbledore had invited him for the feast this evening, but he didn't want to sit up there with the teachers. I definitely wouldn't either. Maybe he is part of a band Dumbledore has hired for tonight." I thought about that for a moment and came to the conclusion, that this really sounded like the most logical explanation. He did look like some boy from a band too. I sighed and turned my attention to Elijah who had finally entered the room.

"Good morning. Today we will be covering a topic of great importance. I suggest we start with the theoretical background. So, what are you able tell me about vampires?" He started the lesson and my mind instantly went to overdrive. Vampires? He had mentioned doing lessons about them nearly a month ago. I was looking forward to this since then. Especially now that I knew Elijah's sister Rebekah also was a vampire, I was curious about what he would teach us about them. After talking to him about his family, I had read quite a lot of books about vampires, but it made me very angry, because most just treated them as some kind of lower species and seemed very prejudiced. I suspected that wasn't what Elijah would tell us about them. So, what did I know about vampires? When I looked up, I noticed that many of my classmates already had their hands in the air.

"They sleep in coffins and rise at night to drink human blood." - "They are afraid of crucifixes and can't enter churches." - "They hate garlic and can't go into the sun." - "No, they can go into the sun, they just don't do it, because the glittering would attract attention. And they can read thoughts and look into the future!" Finally I couldn't take it any longer, Elijah's expression had turned downright desperate at the last statement. I started laughing.

"What? I read that in a book my cousin gave me! You can look it up!" Lavender hissed at me angrily, which only made me giggle more. I finally got myself back under control and took a deep breath. When I did though, I heard a very, very light chuckling coming from somewhere near Elijah's office door. I looked in that direction, but when I couldn't see anything, I turned my attention back to Elijah. Must have been my imagination.

"The garlic is proven to be a myth. No one really knows how it began, since it really does not make much sense. There is, however, the theory that it was invented by vampires themselves to confuse humans and make them more vulnerable. Just like werewolves spread the myths about silver hurting them." I started and Elijah raised his eyebrows slightly, he seemed to be impressed.

"And vampires most certainly don't glitter in the sun either. They burn to ash if they are exposed to direct sunlight. Thus all the stories about coffins and such. They can't read your mind either, but they might be able to manipulate your dreams." I added and Elijah nodded.

"Very good. Thank you. I can see most of you have a very incorrect image of vampires, so let's go through the most important facts together. First of all, a vampire is created if a human dies after drinking vampire blood, which has healing properties. If this happens to a witch he or she will lose all their magic. So you all may want to prevent that." He winked and then continued. "Before we focus on how to defend yourselves against a vampire, I want to point out, that, just like with werewolves, there may be good, as well as evil, vampires. The British ministry of magic sadly does consider them to be a kind of part-human beasts, and it is in fact true that most of them value particularly muggle lives rather little. But for you, as a wizard or witch, a vampire can be a very dangerous opponent, but could also become a valuable alley. You should always keep that in mind, when dealing with them."

"Wait, you're saying that we should consider working with some vampire scum?" Malfoy interrupted him rudely and Elijah looked a bit offended. But then he started smirking.

"Indeed Mr. Malfoy, you will discover that not every vampire is the ferocious, uncivilized beast you're probably imagining right now. In fact I believe that one of your father's most valuable business partners is a highly influential vampire.", Malfoy started at him, his mouth open, as if he had never even heard about that. Of course it made sense that Mr. Malfoy would keep such connections a secret, but if not even his son knew, then how had Elijah found out about that?

"In other parts of the world such collaborations are actually very common. Mostly Vampires and witches or wizards have found ways to live peacefully together. They can greatly benefit from each other. It is only when they start fighting that things tend to become quite ugly."

"But... What use would that be, teaming up with a vampire? There's nothing they can do, that we can't." Elijah threw Seamus an annoyed look.

"That is exactly the attitude that put Voldemort at such an advantage 15 years ago." Most of the class flinched, when he mentioned the name, but he just ignored it and continued.

"He had a very powerful vampire friend that secured him the loyalty of a rather number of vampires. The ministry of magic, as well as Dumbledore, underestimated that effect and that concluded in a lot of unnecessary deaths, until Voldemort died by pure chance. On the other hand, the 'light' side also had connections to another powerful vampire, whom they could have asked for help, but they were too proud to." He paused for a second, giving us time to take it all in.

"Those laws that they claim are  _ protecting _ you from vampires? They instead do the exact opposite by making nearly every vampire decide to fight for Voldemort, because he promises them more equal rights. I hope that after today's lesson you will think differently about them and would at least consider an allegiance should the situation ever arise." Well, I always knew that the ministry was a bunch of prejudiced, racist old wizards who thought themselves superior to every other species. But I hadn't known that it had nearly cost us the war the last time. But who was that powerful vampire Elijah was talking about? Maybe he could help us in this war? Well, Elijah probably was already working on that.

"But of course you would first have to be able to identify one. A skill which you all seem to lack." He smirked and some of my classmates were glaring at him indignantly. What was he talking about? Was he referring to the speculations about Snape?

"Well that shouldn't be that difficult, is it? They can't go into the sun, so they are only running around at night and probably very pale. And they need fangs or something like that. And they are immortal, so I guess their clothing and style of speaking is very old-fashioned. So, I don't know how you could not identify one. It's pretty straightforward, isn't it?" Seamus retorted slightly arrogantly and most of the class nodded in agreement. And he did have a point. Of course some people were joking about Snape, who obviously wasn't a vampire, but I doubted a real vampire would be able to hide very well. From wizards at least. It would be easy enough with muggles who refused to believe in anything supernatural and would find logical excuses for any strange behavior.

"Oh really, is that so? You must have a vast experience at this, considering you were all having breakfast with one." Elijah smirked amused. Wait, what?! I stared at him for a moment and then slapped my head, when it hit me. Of course! How could I have not figured it out sooner.

"Stefan?" I asked him, more for the sake of the others, who were all looking a bit confused. The moment I mentioned the name though, I could see understanding in their eyes and a few drew in a sharp breath.

The door from Elijah's office opened and a laughing Stefan entered.

"This was great, Elijah. Very dramatic." Elijah only shrugged, grinning in amusment.

"So, for everyone who has not had the opportunity to speak to him, this is Stefan, who has so very kindly agreed to help with this lesson." Elijah introduced him.

"Oh. You mean to say I had a choice? You should have told me sooner." Stefan replied dryly and some people chuckled, but I wasn't sure if he really was joking. Elijah threw him a smirk and raised his eyebrows challengingly, but then continued.

"As I was saying, Stefan is a vampire. But there's absolutely no need for you to worry. Stefan now is on what his brother calls a "Bunny diet" once again." Elijah tried to reassure us, but instead I found the 'again' part rather disturbing. The implication behind that was very obvious.

"Yeah, well, as you saw, you were not able to tell that I'm a vampire just by my looks or behavior. But I'm a bit of a special case in that. I've tried to fit in and live as a human for a big part of my live. I'm used to pretending to be human. I can even walk in the sunlight, because of this ring, that a witch made for me." He briefly raised his hand and showed us a big old ring with a blue stone.

"Other vampires probably give you more clues. The most obvious is if you see them using their special abilities." Stefan explained to us and my brain absorbed every information like a sponge.

"What kind of special abilities?" I urged him on curiously and when he noticed, who had asked that, he smirked.

"Well, we're much stronger or faster than you, so if you see someone jumping onto a roof or lifting a car, that would be a very good indication. And we can compel the mind of humans, so that they forget certain things or do whatever we tell them."

"So it basically works like an imperius curse? How do you do it? Is there a way to stop it?" Harry asked Stefan worriedly. The thought that any vampire could control our minds was scary.

"Don't worry, it doesn't work on witches. And even normal humans can protect themselves against it if they wear or drink vervain. It makes compulsion impossible and it also weakens vampires in general and burns us very bad wherever it touches us." Vervain? What was it Prof. Sprout had said?  _ 'In the middle ages, many witches and wizards, but also some muggles drank it regularly, because they thought it would keep evil beings away and it was said to protect people from mind compulsion.'  _ So that was really true! It didn't have anything to do with trying to prevent the imperius or withstand legilimency, they wanted to protect themselves against vampires! Now that greenhouse finally made sense! Dumbledore - or maybe Elijah? - wanted to grow it as a weapon against the vampires, they thought would join Voldemort. That gave me a very uneasy feeling. If they thought it was necessary to grow such an enormous amount of it, the situation had to be much worse than I had ever imagined. I shivered and tried to take my mind of that by listening to what Elijah was saying now.

"If you ever find yourself fighting against a vampire, do keep in mind that if they manage to come close enough, they can easily kill you with their bare hands before you have time to react." Elijah started to explain, but Stefan interrupted him.

"Yeah, but most of us probably won't as many vampires like to play around a bit or will try to drink your blood." Elijah glared at him a bit.

"Thank you, Stefan. If a vampire does underestimate you like  _ that _ , it might give you enough time to hex them. Nonetheless, the most reasonable tactic would be if you try to keep them at distance. One stunning charm will not do much in stopping a vampire. They rather resemble giants in that matter. So you would either have to synchronize your attacks with other wizards or find a different approach." He explained calmly, and again Stefan spoke.

"You could try to hide in a house for example, a vampire can't enter a house owned by a human without permission. You could also desiccate a vampire with your magic." Now Elijah was quickly interrupting, glaring daggers at him.

"Yes, theoretically you could try this, but it takes quite a lot of energy and is thus not very safe for your own health." He explained calmly and then reached the final part of his explanation, that I knew would come.

"In the end, the only way to permanently dispose of a vampire is to kill him. There are only few things that can do this."

"Well, no one of you is a werewolf, so biting him is not an option for you." Stefan quickly threw in and Elijah looked at him annoyed.

"You also lack the physical strength to separate him from his head or heart with your hands, but maybe if you use the right spell, that could potentially work. By far the easiest way for you is to put a wooden stake through the vampire's heart. You can try to do this with magic, a levitation spell perhaps, or try to do it in a physical fight."

"Yeah, well, it's not  _ that _ easy." Stefan contradicted him and Elijah threw him a honey sweet smile.

" _ Exactly _ and because of that, Stefan here has just volunteered to let you try this and everyone who wants to can have a chance at fighting him now." Stefan threw him a glare at that, and Elijah smirked teasingly.

"What's the matter Stefan? Scared that one of them could be stronger than you?" Elijah winked smirking and Stefan chuckled darkly.

"Not really, I'm just wondering if you really think it's a great idea to train them to become vampire hunters. I mean, what if they... say they suddenly find out someone else is a vampire too and try to kill  _ him _ instead." Stefan told Elijah in an almost challenging tone and Elijah's eyes got a dangerous glare. Somehow I had the feeling there was some underlying meaning in Stefan's words. Something almost threatening. Did he know about Rebekah? Stefan and Elijah's whole interactions seemed to be based on some kind of power game. I wondered briefly what had caused this tense relationship, but then again, with Elijah a hunter and Stefan a vampire, it seemed only logical that they would have met under less than ideal circumstances.

"Well, I don't want poor Stefan to be afraid, if he doesn't trust in his skills enough to let you fight him with a wooden stake, so you will use this." Elijah added teasingly, while grabbing a stake of metal and Stefan sighed.

"So now, who wants to go first? Don't worry, he won't hurt you. And don't hold back, if you manage to stake him that's his own fault and he will wake up again." Stefan glared at Elijah.

I looked at my classmates but most of them were staring at Elijah as if he had grown a second head. The whole idea of sparring with a vampire did seem to be a bit crazy, but I didn't really want to go first either.

"Sure, I will." Harry stepped forward and Elijah gave him the metal stake and smiled at him encouragingly and then took a few steps back so he and Stefan would have enough room.

The fights were short and showed us exactly how helpless we were against a vampire. Stefan finished everyone in under a minute. Most of the time by managing to grab his opponent's throat and pressing them against the wall, which Elijah counted as us losing, because he could easily break our neck.

Finally it was my turn to fight him and I accepted the stake from Neville. I took a deep breath and went to face Stefan. He just stood there, waiting for me to attack first. He had done so in every fight, letting my classmates attack first. Harry had tried to hit him right with the stake and he had simply grabbed his arm and used his free hand to grab his throat. Ron had tried to sprint at him but using his speed Stefan had managed to get behind him while he stumbled forward and then attacked from behind before Ron could turn back around. Neville had simply thrown the stake like a spear at Stefan, but he had simply caught it midair.

So what was I going to do? How could I beat him? He was much stronger. He was much faster. And I wasn't allowed to use magic in this exercise. I wouldn't be able to beat him with just relying on my fighting skills. I had become quite good at it during Elijah's lessons, but that was always against my classmates, never against a vampire. So if I couldn't beat him with strength or speed I had to beat him with my mind. I had to have a tactic.

I tried to recall everything Elijah had ever taught us about fighting, I had always spent attention to the theoretical advises he gave us, unlike the rest of the class.

So, what was Stefan's fighting style? What were his weaknesses? Elijah had once made us analyze our own weaknesses in an essay and do the same about a fighting partner. I had to use that now. I thought back to what I had already seen of Stefan. He was quick, he never played around, just tried to win in the fastest way possible, he almost seemed bored by this. But at the same time, he was always focused, no one had managed to catch him off guard. And he had patience. He always waited for us to make the first move, which gave him an enormous advantage. I had to make him attack first, but how? Malfoy had already tried to provoke him into that, but in the end gave it up and attacked first too. Hmmm... maybe I should focus on the weaknesses first. The thing with having to be invited in didn't help me here, neither was there a werewolf here to help me. Sunlight maybe. I looked at my surrounding. Two thirds of the room were flooded with light. But Stefan had the ring that made him immune to sunlight. Then there was the thing about vervain. But where would I get some? I doubted Elijah would let me go outside to collect it from the greenhouses. Maybe he had some of it here... They had to do something with the tons of vervain we had harvested and I had never seen it being dried somewhere. So what did Dumbledore do with it? Then I remembered the comment Prof. Sprout had made once.  _ 'We could feed the whole school with it.'  _ Hmmm...

I took a deep breath again and raised my head to look at Stefan again. He chuckled.

"Do you want to start already, or do you need another hour to gather your courage? You don't have to fight me, if you're too scared." He smirked and I could hear some of my classmates chuckling and felt a pang of anger in my stomach. Well, he would stop laughing soon enough. I grinned back at him and raised the stake.

"No, I'm ready." Did I really want to do this? If I was wrong... But then I heard Malfoy laughing and starting to whisper to the other Slytherins. I doubted it was something nice. I felt the anger burn inside me again. I had to risk it. I wanted to win! And Elijah wouldn't let Stefan hurt me if something went wrong. Besides, I knew he had healing potions ready. Slowly I raised the stake, looked into Stefan's eyes, took another breath and then drove the stake into my hand. I heard a gasp from some of the others and gritted my teeth against the pain. I dropped the stake – I didn't want to stake Stefan and needed a free hand more. I quickly threw Elijah a glance, telling him silently that I knew what I was doing and he shouldn't interfere. He stared at me skeptically, but then hesitantly nodded.

I quickly turned my attention back to Stefan who was staring at my hand hungrily and then slowly started to go towards him. The nearer I got, the more shaky his breath were getting and when I only was a few steps away from him he looked at the ground and covered his mouth with his hand.

There was a lot of blood dripping from my hand now and I took another step towards him and finally he raised his head again. I gasped and stumbled back a few steps. His eyes were red now and he had grown long fangs. He took that moment to lunge at me and I gave a tiny screech. Then I remembered my plan and before he could reach me, I pressed my bloody hand against his face. He stumbled back screaming and I could see smoke coming from under my hand. I quickly took a few steps back and brought distance between us again. I didn't want to hurt Stefan too much. He looked back at me again and I could see Elijah smiling proudly. Well if that had already impressed him...

Stefan charged at me again and a shiver ran down my back. His face was full of blood and he looked like something out of a nightmare. I felt a deep fear rise inside of me and quickly tried to push it back. I had to stay focused. After a few steps Stefan yelped in pain and quickly jumped back. Then he threw me an angry glare.

"What's the matter? Looking for something?" I asked him teasingly and held up his ring, completely safe in the middle of the sunlit part of the classroom. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Elijah chuckling, but here sadly was the end of my plan and I turned to look at Elijah.

"That's it. Can we call it a truce? I don't think I can beat him, if I directly attack him and he can't reach me. I would either wait here until help arrives or use magic to try and hit him with the stake." I told Elijah honestly. There was no use in continuing a fight I couldn't win, if I wasn't allowed to do any magic. He chuckled again and watched me amused.

"Of course. The lesson is nearly over anyway. Nonetheless, that was an amazing performance." He told me proudly and quickly dismissed the class, before fetching a healing potion for my hand, which I gladly took. While I was waiting for my hand to heal, Elijah went over to Stefan to offer him a handkerchief and calm him down.

"Wow, Hermione, that was crazy!" Ron told me impressed and I blushed slightly.  
"Yeah, I thought you had lost your mind at first. But how were you able to hurt him by touching his face? Honestly, that reminded me a bit of my fight with Quirrel." Harry was looking at me confused, but I wasn't really in the mood to explain the vervain in the food theory yet. Not until I knew  _ why _ Dumbledore did it.

"That's where I got the idea from. But it's a longer story... let's go okay?" I quickly waved Elijah and Stefan goodbye and left the room, the boys following me.

Only when the boys had left for divination did I notice, that I was still holding Stefan's ring tightly in my right hand. I quickly went back to Elijah's classroom to bring it back. After all, Stefan couldn't leave the room without it.

But just when I wanted to enter the classroom I heard Stefan say a name that instantly caught my attention and made my blood run cold.

"Yeah, well, like I said, Caroline mentioned it in her postcard from Venice. She and Klaus are moving to England. I just thought you should know. Because, if you haven't heard from him yet, I guess that means they're joining Voldemort."


	11. Vicious pumpkin juice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione and Stefan chat a bit, then he has to leave again

**Chapter 11: Vicious Pumpkin Juice**

_Hogwarts - 31st of October 1995  
_

**_Hermione:_**

"Dobby? Hey, can I ask you something?" The little house-elf's short look of disappointment when he saw that I had come alone, quickly turned into a delighted expression at my question.

"Always! Dobby loves helping! Especially friends of Harry Potter." He gleamed up at me and I quickly took him into a far corner of the kitchens, where the other house-elves wouldn't hear us. At least they were all busy preparing the feast, so they had for once accepted that I didn't want anything to eat.

"What do you want to know, Miss Hermione?" He asked curiously and I cringed at his words.

"Well, uhmm... listen I'm not angry or anything, but do you put a flower into the food or something?" I had pondered over my theory all day, I had to know! His eyes became even bigger.

"No, miss, not into food. But we put flower in drinks. Pretty purple flower. Prof. Dumbledore said to. But didn't say why." So it was in the drinks? I guess that made sense somehow. But Stefan had drank coffee too this morning! So how...

"Did you also put it into the coffee this morning?"

"No, miss. Prof. Dumbledore said today it enough to put in juice at evening." So it apparently stayed more than 24 hours in a human's blood circle. I mentally noted that down. Might become important again...

"Thank you, Dobby. You've helped me very much. I have to go now, or I will miss the feast. Next time I'll bring Harry, okay?" He beamed at that and I quickly waved goodbye and left the room.

xxx

So... Dumbledore had been putting vervain into the drinks since the beginning of the school year. That's why we needed that much of it. But _why_? Why would we suddenly need to be protected from vampires? Was it because he was afraid Voldemort would start to use them to attack Hogwarts or something? Or was it something else? Maybe it had been Elijah's idea. We started growing the vervain at the same time as he started teaching here, after all.

When I arrived in the great hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table, the hall was still mostly empty – Prof. Vector had finished her lesson early today – and I had to wait until the boys came down from Divination. I grabbed a glass of pumpkin juice and eyed it suspiciously, trying to find anything unusual, but it looked just like always. I carefully sniffed, but I could only smell pumpkin. I jumped and nearly spilled the juice, when someone plopped down on the bench opposite me.

"Wow, what did that innocent juice do to you?" Stefan joked and I looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've been glaring at it for the last minute or so, if looks could kill it would be more dead than me now." He chuckled and I felt my mood become a bit lighter.

"Nothing really. I'm more angry at Dumbledore. But can we not talk about that right now?" I quickly tried to change the topic. I needed more time to figure it out for myself, to understand why he would deceive us like that. Stefan raised his eyebrows slightly, but didn't seem to mind.

"Yeah, sure. I mean there is this whole fascinating question of how you were able to beat me this morning. I wanted to ask you when you gave the ring back, but you practically fled as soon as you entered the room." He told me, smirking and I blushed.

"Well, I had to go to classes." He didn't have to know that I eavesdropped on him and Elijah.

"Sure." There was only the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice. Did he know I was lying?

"And I never managed to beat you. It was a draw." Of course I knew that even that much was impressing, but it was still bugging me that I hadn't been able to really beat him. I probably could have staked him instead of taking his ring, sure, but that sounded like it would hurt him a lot and I hadn't wanted that. I should have been able to find another solution. Maybe if I... Stefan's snort ripped me out of my thoughts.

"You do know that everyone else seems to think you won? Do you have any idea how much of Elijah's teasing I had to endure today? And in none of the other classes – and I've spent the whole day fighting – anyone came even close to what you managed." I blushed even more at that, but this time it wasn't out of shame. On the contrary. I felt my chest swell with pride.

"So how did you do it?" I sighed and rubbed my temples, looking down at the table. I had already stopped counting how many times I had been asked this question today. And every time I had tried to put my classmates off with some kind of evasive answer. I still wasn't sure I really wanted to answer it, but Stefan deserved the truth. I looked back up at him, just in time to react quickly enough to catch his hand midair.

"You probably don't want to drink that." I replied to his confused look. He had apparently used the time waiting for me to come up with an answer to pour himself a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Hey, I get it. You have this little private vendetta with this juice, but I swear I'm not taking its side. I don't want to get caught up in this at all, I'm just curious what it tastes like." He told me smirking and I started chuckling.

"No, you really don't want to try it. It has vervain in it." I told him quietly, so that the third years, that were sitting a few seats away, wouldn't overhear. His eyes widened and I could see him beginning to understand.

"So that was how you did it. There's vervain in the juice? But then why did all your classmates look so surprised?" He seemed confused again.

"Well, we didn't know. Apparently Dumbledore has the house-elves put it in the drinks since the beginning of the school year and didn't think it necessary to tell us. I only figured it out during today's lesson." I explained and suddenly noticed, that I was still holding Stefan's wrist. I quickly pulled my hand back and used it to grab my own glass. I took a big gulp of pumpkin juice, trying desperately not to blush again and promptly got a coughing fit, chocking on the bitter taste. When I finally was able to breathe again I looked back up at Stefan, my face burning hot. He only smirked.

"Well now I understand why you have issues with the juice. That obviously was attempted murder on its part. You okay?" He asked me concerned and I quickly nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just..." I broke off. Why did the juice taste like that? Prof. Sprout had told us humans weren't able to taste vervain. Maybe it was psychologically. I only tasted it because I now knew it was there. That had to be it. I took a deep breath and tried again, this time only taking a tiny sip. The taste was the same as always. Well, not exactly... Everything had tasted a bit off since the beginning of the school year... No. That had to be my imagination. I quickly banned that thought from my mind and looked back up when I heard the voices of my classmates.

"Oh hello Stefan, there you are. Where did you go this morning?"

"Yeah, we wanted to show you around the castle and then you were suddenly gone."

"And what were you doing at lunch? We were looking for you, you know?"

"Well, that doesn't matter. You are here now."

"So what were you doing the whole day?"

"I hope Elijah has been nice to you, he can be a bit scary sometimes."  
"Parvati, Stefan is such a strong vampire, he wouldn't be scared of Elijah, would you Stefan?"

"Why not? He has feelings too, you know, Lavender. I'm sure deep down he's really sensitive. It must be very hard to be a vampire."

"Could you both shut up please?" I hissed at them and sighed annoyed. They had sat down on both sides of Stefan, sitting _very_ close to him. Stefan threw me a thankful glance and rolled his eyes, smirking. I chuckled lightly.

I turned to Harry and Ron, who had sat down on my right side and watched them carefully. Harry always was in a foul mood after Divination lessons, and, sure enough, he was staring broodingly at his empty plate. Ron on the other hand seemed to be just as annoyed with Lavender and Parvati's behavior as I was. Hmm. That was new. Normally he didn't seem to mind their presence.

"Why are you sitting with _her_ anyway? After that mean trick she used today to cheat in that fight against you?" Lavender asked Stefan, she seemed to be offended by it. I tried to ignore her jibe at me and took another gulp of my pumpkin juice.

"Yeah, don't worry, Stefan, we know she cheated and would've never been able to beat you in a fair fight. You are so strong, it was amazing. You have to be one of the strongest vampires, aren't you?" I snorted at that. They were really overdoing it. They had been even worse when Victor had been here, but he was at least a famous Quidditch player. Were they really so desperate? Stefan was good looking, I had to admit that, but he was only here for a day, so what was the point? Stefan seemed to be amused too.

"Actually, I'm very far from the strongest vampire. Vampires turn stronger the older we get and I'm not even 200 years old. There are vampires five times my age. On top of that, I only drink animal blood, which makes me much weaker than I would be if I drank human blood." he explained and his words created a shocked silence. He was _weak_ compared to other vampires? That thought send shivers down my spine. What would happen if I ever had to face another vampire? My little trick had worked fine enough in the classroom. But it had been risky. Too risky probably. I sighed. Another thing to worry about. As if the list wasn't long enough already.

xxx

Our conversation - which consisted mostly of Parvati and Lavender talking to Stefan, trying to convince him that they still believed he was extremely strong - was interrupted when Dumbledore finally started the feast and a band - he really had hired one, but without Stefan of course - started playing.

Once Dumbledore had sat down again, Lavender immediately opened her mouth again.

"I really wouldn't mind if you visit more often, the les-" Stefan seemed to have finally become fed up though.

"Listen, _Lavender._..? I'm really glad you like me, but I actually have a girlfriend, okay?" He interrupted her, completely exasperated, and she huffed, offended.

"What are you trying to say, I wasn't..."

"You have a girlfriend? What is she like?" I asked the first thing that came into my mind before Lavender could finish whatever she wanted to say now. Stefan looked at me thankfully.

"Yeah. Her name is Jasmine. She's perfect." He started smiling as soon as he talked about her and I could see how much he loved her. I ignored the tiny pang of jealousy and instead decided to feel happy for him.

"How does that work? Is she a vampire too...?" I started hesitantly but he didn't seem to mind the question. Lavender threw me a murderous glare.

"No, she's a normal human girl. And she could never hurt a single soul, she's always trying to help everyone. I've told her what I am though. She doesn't mind. We've met shortly after I moved to Ireland five years ago and -"

"Yeah, that's all very fascinating, come on Parvati, I wanted to talk to Seamus because of some homework." Lavender huffed, glaring at us and they stood up and went down a few seats to sit with our other classmates. Stefan and Harry looked just as relieved as I felt.

"Did we really manage to get rid of them? I should've mentioned Jasmine earlier." Stefan exhaled and I chuckled lightly.

"Seems like it, yeah."

"Thank God. I really wouldn't want to have to endure them the rest of the evening."

"Are you leaving tonight already?" I asked him slightly disappointed and he nodded.

"Yeah, Elijah organized this crazy fireplace traveling thing for me and he could only get my house connected for one day. Even if he did, your ministry of magic wouldn't allow me to stay overnight anyway." He grumbled and threw a quick angry glare at the teachers table. I followed his eyes and noticed Umbridge watching us.

"I'm surprised she even let you come here. I thought the ministry didn't want us to learn how to fight." Harry noted confused and Stefan's look became even darker.

"Yeah, but I guess Umbridge is more than happy to have Elijah teach you how to kill _dirty_ _part-humans._ " His bitter tone made even Ron look up from his food for a moment.

"You know Umbridge?" Stefan snorted.

"Of course I do. That horrible woman has been trying to change the laws against vampires for quite some time now. They're imposing all sorts of ridiculous rules on us. But as far as I know she's also doing the same about the werewolves and other things." I felt my hatred for Umbridge rise another bit. Of course vampires and werewolves could be dangerous and there needed to be laws to protect humans, especially the muggles. But as always, good people, like Stefan or Lupin were suffering because of wizards' stupid prejudices.

xxx

"You know what I always wondered? How did the first vampire appear? I've looked through so many books, but I didn't find anything." I asked Stefan curiously. The evening was already getting late and I had to use my one chance to talk to a real vampire wisely. Stefan chuckled lightly, as if amused by some kind of inside joke. I blushed.

"You're right, that's stupid; it's like asking a human how the first human was born." I quickly took back my question.

"No, it's fine. I do know. It actually was a witch who used a lot of black magic to create the first vampires." He smiled at me

"Wow. She had to have been powerful." I started, but then something in his words made me think.

"Wait. The first _vampires_? Plural? Why would she create more than one?" Now Stefan looked hesitantly, as if he didn't know how much to tell.

"I don't think she knew what she was doing. She was only trying to protect her family from werewolves. She probably would have undone it if she could. But one of her sons killed her shortly afterwards." He explained. And I eagerly took in all the information. Her own son killed her?! That was horrible! But...

"How do you know so much about them?" Did every vampire get a full out history lesson about it when he was changed? Stefan chuckled darkly.

"I've met them. More than once. One of them wanted to kill my ex-girlfriend. And then his whole family came and everything turned crazy. It's a long story. But they are incredibly hard to fight. They are all a 1000 years old and compared to them a normal vampire seems like a weak human. They cannot be killed, and believe me, we've tried. They can even compel us, like we can with humans." His eyes fluttered to the teachers table for a second and he suddenly looked at us with an urgent glance.

"They can't be killed? Not even when you stake them?" I asked him alarmed. The chance that we would ever meet one of them was nearly null, but the thought was still scary.

"Well, there was a certain kind of wood and they die when staked with it. But it's all gone now. Staking them with a normal stake will only put them out temporarily and they will wake up much angrier than before. There still exists a special set of silver daggers that will put them to sleep for as long as they stay in their heart. It also breaks every compulsion they use on other vampires. Currently -" He stopped talking and turned around when Elijah put a hand on his shoulder, smiling pleasantly at him.

"I think you've already told them quiet enough, Stefan. A quick word if you please. I believed I've found a solution for the problem we've discussed this morning." Stefan was watching him cautiously, but then slowly stood up and went with Elijah.

xxx

"Wow, Halloween this year was really unspectacular. Nothing bad happened." Ron said cheerfully after he finished desert. Now that he mentioned it...

"Yeah, you're right. And the feast was great. But we better not talk too soon." He mumbled something undistinguishable – perhaps I had been wrong about him having finished desert – and I looked up when I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye.

Stefan seemed to be back already. He had only been gone for about 10 minutes.

When he arrived at the table, I noticed his face was strangely blank and he didn't even acknowledge us. He only picked up his jacket that was still lying on the bench and then turned around again.

"Stefan?" At least I got his attention and the blank expression turned into a gloomy and slightly angry one. What had he talked about with Elijah?

"Hey, I'm sorry, I have to go now, the fire connection is only open until midnight." He explained dryly.

"Oh... well, you better hurry then I guess. But take care not to lose one of your glass shoes, though." I teased and Ron looked at me confused. Stefan and Harry seemed to have understood though and chuckled lightly. But the joy never reached Stefan's eyes. He looked so pale and something seemed wrong.

"Hey, are you... are you sure you're okay?" I asked him hesitantly and he opened his mouth, but didn't seem to be able to get any words out. He closed it again and seemed to think. Finally he managed to speak again.

"I'm okay. But I guess I should have tried that pumpkin juice. We probably won't see each other again... and...if we do, _run_. Take care of yourselves." And before I could react, he had sped out of the room in vampire speed. What was that about?


	12. We have cookies!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caroline and Klaus arrive in Britain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first part was a little gift for my best friend, who helps me a lot with the planning of this story, so I told her she could choose the narrator of this chapter as well as something that she wanted in their... And I think she tried to annoy me with her request. Narcissa Malfoy and a squirrel on a unicorn?! Honestly?!

**Chapter 12: We have cookies!**

_Wiltshire, England - Saturday, 2nd of November 1995_

**_Narcissa Malfoy:_**

It was a squirrel. A _squirrel_ ! And it was riding on a _unicorn._ A gigantic squirrel riding an even bigger unicorn through some kind of horribly sparkling rainbow city.

A shudder ran down my back and I shakily sank down onto the nearest armchair. What was I going to do now?

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down, rubbing my temples with my fingers.

"What. Is. _That_?" I asked the little man next to me in my most icy voice. He instantly became even paler. Good. He should be afraid. I had spent the last two weeks renovating and preparing this house and now this!

"B-b-but... Mrs. Malfoy... I-i-it's a... a p-painting... fr-from one of the mo-most fa-famou-ous pai-paint-t-ters!" He stuttered and a desperate expression came over his face.

"A painting? Yes, well, I can assure you that this... this thing is not what I had in mind, when I asked you to decorate this house with _art_." I hissed poisonously and looked at the enormous monstrosity again, that covered the whole back wall of the – otherwise lovely – living room. The animals on it were still running around happily, playing with each other. It was dripping with happiness and was cheesy beyond measure.

"This is an abhorrence and an insult to everyone who possesses even the tiniest knowledge of art. Was that your intent? To insult me? Or maybe you aim to insult the future owner, he is a quite passionate painter himself as I've heard and I can assure you that he will not appreciate it." I quickly stood up and went to leave, turning back once again at the doorway, piercing the man with my glare.

"You better pray you manage to make this thing disappear until Lucius arrives with our new neighbors." I told him coldly and stalked out of the room, leaving the man in tears. He would pay for this.

The last thing I heard before I stepped into the hallway were his desperately muttered words.

"B-but what about the extra strong sticking charm?!" Well... I guess that means he would become the snack for our guests today. How convenient.

I decided to take a walk back, instead of just apparating straight to my own house. It was only a short distance and I needed a few moments to collect my thoughts and go through everything I still had to do.

How did they expect me to prepare the mansion and plan a welcome dinner party, if they only gave me such a short amount of time? The painting disaster would never have happened if I had had enough time to select the decorations myself!

And then of course, the house was a real challenge in itself. My experiences with vampires were restricted to the few times Lucius had had dinner with Mr. Mikaelson to talk about some of their more secret and important business deals, that they didn't want to discuss in a letter.

From those I had only concluded that a big stock of hard alcohol would be very much appreciated.

Furthermore, anyone the Dark Lord considered a friend would probably have some use for a small dungeon as well...

That had been one of the most shocking revelations ever. The Dark Lord had many followers, of course, and he also had a group of loyal people working for him. But a _friend_? Someone he considered his equal? That was new. And it made me wonder what kind of person this Klaus would be.

xxx

_Dear Draco,_

_How are you doing? Your father and I are really starting to worry about you, please write back!_

_I know you're very busy because of your task, but Severus has told me you've become very quiet and have shut yourself away from everyone._

_Please just let us help you. You know you can always come to us if you need anything. You don't have to go through this alone._

_We love you,_

_Your mother_

I sighed as I put away the quill and sent the owl away with the letter. Draco hadn't replied to my letters in nearly a month now, ever since the fiasco with the cursed necklace that had hurt that girl in Hogsmead, instead of killing Dumbledore.

I couldn't even imagine what he was going through right now. He wasn't even an adult yet and the Dark Lord had tasked him to kill one of the most powerful wizards of our time. How was he supposed to do that?

I wanted to tell myself that it was a great honor that the Dark Lord had chosen him for something of such great importance, like my sister believed, but I just couldn't convince myself.

I knew it was meant as a punishment because Lucius had failed to convince Klaus to join the Dark Lord. Eight deatheaters had been killed that day and somehow it had all turned out to be Lucius's fault. But what could he have done differently? It wasn't my husband who had provoked Klaus and used a Cruciatus on his girlfriend. But the Dark Lord had needed someone to blame. In the end, he himself went to talk to Klaus and had apparently found a way to placate him. So why did my son have to pay for this? It didn't seem fair to me. But I quickly stopped myself. I couldn't go there. I just couldn't let myself think those thoughts. Not when my family's lives depended on my loyalty. We were all too deeply involved already.

I quickly went back to the kitchen to see how the house-elves were doing. The dinner had to be a success!

 

* * *

 

_Caroline:_

 

"Ready?" Klaus asked me and offered me his hand. I took it, smiling and slowly got out of the car, under the umbrella he held above our heads. He closed the passenger door behind me and I took in our surroundings.

It was already dark, the garden behind the fence only illuminated by the squares of light the windows of the house casted on the ground. And it was pouring with rain. There were big puddles on the lawn next to the country road, which we had followed until here. When it had ended at a big, iron gate, Klaus had just parked the car in the grass next to it, as there was no parking lot or anything. The driveway inside of the garden was lined with hedges on both sides and much too narrow for a car to drive on. What did those people do with their cars?

I felt Klaus lay his arm around me and together we turned around and walked towards the gate. I looked around for an intercom, but as we went closer, it just swung open, as if by magic. Ah, well...

Now we had an unrestricted view of the huge manor. I felt a shiver run down my spine. It was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, but it also had something dark about it. I shuddered as I remembered the encounter with the wizards in Venice and the horrible spell one of them had cast on me. The worry, which I had been trying to push down the whole day, came bubbling up again. I felt my heart speeding up and my breath quicken.

"Caroline? Are you alright love?" Klaus stopped walking to turn towards me and eyed me concerned. He must have noticed my nervousness.

"Yes, I'm only... I don't... I'm fine." I stumbled, apparently not really convincing, as he only looked even more concerned at me now. Before I could get myself even more worked up, I quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him with me, as I stepped through the gate, the gravel crunching under my feet.

Hesitantly I took a few more steps, nearly crushing Klaus's hand now, but he didn't seem to mind.

Suddenly the heavy doors swung back and shut with a loud bang behind us, making my heart skip again.

Klaus turned towards me, gently took my face into his hands and looked me deep in the eyes.

"Shh... love, everything is fine. I won't let anyone hurt you." Klaus whispered, trying to calm my nerves.

"I know. I just... If this wizard is as evil as you said..." I whispered back as quietly as I could. If someone was evil by Klaus's standards, I wasn't really sure what I was doing here, preparing to meet him. I should be running in the opposite direction.

"Listen Caroline, love. If you want us to leave again, we can do that. We can leave right now and go back to Italy or some other sunny, beautiful place and we never have to think about this again..."

"NO!" I quickly interrupted him and he frowned, surprised.

As much as I wanted to do just that, to just leave this rainy, gloomy place and not face those cold, evil wizards, I knew it wasn't what Klaus wanted. He would not hesitate for a second if I asked him to leave, but I had already agreed to this.

"No. It's fine. We've talked about this. You think this guy can help you find your daughter. I might not like what you're going to do, but I know it's what you have to do, okay? So let's just get this over with." I started to walk again, striding purposefully towards the house, Klaus following at my side.

I didn't like what we were going to do. From what Klaus had told me, this Tom guy was one of the most powerful dark wizards he had ever known and I hated that he would work with him again now. I was afraid that he would turn Klaus into his violent, cruel self again.

But I had seen the longing in Klaus's eyes when he had talked about how this guy could help him. Since we had started traveling, Klaus had been happy, cheerful and absolutely lovely whenever I was with him. But there were also times – when he thought I was sleeping or when he didn't know I was watching – when his look would turn darker and I could see a deep pain and hopelessness in his eyes.

Klaus had fought against Elijah for over a decade without any outcome. He hadn't managed to get his daughter back. Elijah might have promised to tell him her whereabouts once she turned 18 and finished school, but Klaus's trust for Elijah was completely broken and he was utterly terrified that he would see Hope never again.

He felt helpless. Elijah had vanished and Rebekah wouldn't tell Klaus where he went. For years, Klaus had werewolves, witches and vampires all over the world look for his daughter, but nobody had ever found her. The only rumors they ever heard were that Elijah had killed her. Klaus was desperate.

But ever since Klaus had met this guy in Rome – while I had done an extensive shopping trip – there was something different about him. There was a glimmer of hope in his eyes now. He had found a tiny straw to grasp and it wasn't my intention to take that from him. The only thing I could do now was try to keep him from killing more people than absolutely necessary.

Finally, we came to a stop in front of big, wooden doors. I turned to look at Klaus and realized, that he was still watching me worriedly. I took a deep breath and tried to put on a happy smile.

"Come on, let's not keep them waiting. I'm sure this is going to be fun." I said sarcastically and felt Klaus squeeze my hand encouragingly, waiting until I was ready. _Come on, get it together Caroline!_

Shakily I raised my right hand and knocked at the heavy doors. No turning back now.

Instead of having to wait for someone to come open them, they moved all on their own, just like the gates had done. The hallway behind it was dark, only lit by candles on the wall, a magnificent carpet was covering the stone floor and I could vaguely make out a row of portraits in frames farther down the hallway.

I could hear a slight whispering and got the creepy feeling, that we were being watched, even though I couldn't see anyone.

Suddenly there were footsteps and when I looked up, a figure had appeared at the end of the hallway. The clicking of her heels was cushioned by the carpet as she strode towards us. It was a woman around forty, tall, slimly built and with long blonde hair. She was wearing an expensive looking black dress and from the way she walked, I instantly perceived her as somewhat arrogant, even thought there was a polite smile on her face.

Finally she reached us.

"Welcome to Malfoy Manor. Please, do come in. My husband and I are delighted to have you as our guests." She greeted us pompously, and we took a few steps forward, now able to enter the house.

"My name is Narcissa Malfoy. I'm very pleased to finally meet you Mr..." She looked at Klaus questioningly, offering him her hand and he quickly kissed it and smiled at her.

"Oh, please, just call me Klaus." he answered her, smiling charmingly, but quickly squeezed my hand and threw me a warning glance. For a second I was confused, but then I understood. He didn't want them to know his last name. Klaus's family was his weakness and he apparently didn't trust those people. Great. If not even Klaus felt safe with them... Well, first names it was then.

As soon as Klaus had let go of her hand, Narcissa turned to me. I threw her the brightest smile I could manage.

"Hi, I'm Caroline." Step one of joining the dark side: Achieve first name basis with an evil, stuck-up witch. Check. Step two: Have dinner with the 'Dark Lord'.

Narcissa led us down the hallway where she came from and we stepped out into a big room. It had dark purple walls and was illuminated by two fancy chandeliers and a bright fire burning in the fireplace on the side wall. The whole room was dominated by the long table at which more than a dozen people were gathered.

And now they were all staring at us. A shiver ran down my back as I took them in. They were creepy. I could recognize the man with the long, blonde hair and the frizzy-haired woman with the maniac look from Venice. I quickly scanned the others. Most seemed to be men in their forties or fifties and they were all wearing black cloaks. The chair at the head of the table had its back to us, so I couldn't see who was sitting in it. Probably the 'Dark Lord' guy.

Narcissa gestured towards the two empty chairs at the right side of him and then sat down farther down the table. Klaus strode purposefully towards them and I hesitantly trailed behind. I wasn't at all comfortable that I would be sitting so close to _Tom_. Somehow, that name sounded way too nice...

Klaus had reached the seats now, but instead of sitting down on one, he picked them up easily, sped to the other end of the table and put one of them at the head side opposite, where there had been no chair until now. He put the other down at his right side and threw the disgusting man sitting next to it a threatening glare. The man squeaked, seemed to take the hint and quickly abandoned his place to back away to the wall farthest away from Klaus.

I had decided to stay where I was during the whole thing, watching Klaus, but now he pulled the chair on the right back slightly and looked at me again, smiling, raised his eyebrows flirtatiously and gestured me to come and sit down.

I took a deep breath, raised my head and strode along the long row of wizards sitting at the table, determined not to look at any of them until I reached Klaus, least of all at the 'Dark Lord'.

Finally I sat down on my chair, glad that the chair on my right was empty and Klaus casually settled down on his, only now taking his eyes away from me again, raising his head, still smiling cheerfully, but his eyes became hard.

"Hello Tom." Here we go...

I took a deep breath and then also raised my head, my eyes following the long, empty table, until finally, I looked at the face of 'Lord Voldemort'.

I flinched and nearly screamed. His face wasn't human. It looked even more horrible than a vampire or a hybrid's face with extended fangs. He was bald, his nose was flat, with only slits instead of nostrils and he seriously needed a solarium! His eyes, which were fixed on Klaus now, were flickering scarlet.

I took another, shaky breath and let my left hand wander under the table, looking for a connection. Without taking his eyes off this creepy guy, Klaus let his right hand fall under the table too, locking our fingers, his thumb drawing circles on mine, trying to comfort me.

"Nik. You kept us waiting. I nearly thought you might have changed your mind." the voice was cold and high-pitched and sent a shiver down my spine.

xxx

"So... I've heard that you have been killed by a little baby. Is that true?" Klaus asked... _Tom? The Dark Lord? Voldemort?_ How was I supposed to call this guy? His followers always looked outraged whenever Klaus used the guy's first name, so that probably wasn't the correct form of address. But 'Dark Lord' just sounded ridiculous, even in my head! I looked at him again, taking in his creepy features. That was it! I would just call him Lord Creepyface. At least in my head. In the very least, it would not make him seem so scary anymore...

Lord Creepyface looked angry at Klaus's question.

"You seem amused by that." He stated slowly, his voice cold. His followers – or deatheaters, as I had learned – were throwing careful glances from Voldemort to Klaus. That seemed to be a sensible topic. Klaus meanwhile didn't care at all.

"Oh, I think it's hilarious! The _great_ Tom Riddle, beaten by a boy in diapers." He grinned broadly, chuckled and took another sip of the blood in his glass. Some strange little creatures had set a whole carafe of it before us, when they had served the appetizers. I had decided to ask Klaus about them later and to just politely drink a few sips of the blood, instead of taking a blood bag out of my purse. I didn't want to seem rude and whatever unfortunate person the blood had belonged to, it seemed too late to help him or her anyway. _Just try not to think about it, Caroline._

"Harry Potter did _not_ defeat me. I made a mistake in underestimating the magical power of his mother's sacrifice." Lord Creepyface's voice shook with suppressed anger.

"Of course. And that is why you have asked me for my help in killing him. What's the matter Tom? Scared of a teenager and a feebly old man?" Klaus teased, none of the deatheaters dared to even breath it seemed. I squeezed his hand warningly. He really shouldn't provoke Lord Creepyface like that. Klaus just threw me a mischievous smirk, winking at me. He seemed to be enjoying his little power game.

"I mean, I could understand it, with followers like this I would feel frightened too. They seem to be stupid enough to be more of a threat to your side than the enemy's. Those in Venice didn't even put up much of a fight. What happened to the standards and expectations you once held?" He asked him, grinning challengingly and I kicked his shin warningly. He had just insulted every person in this room. Great. But instead of at least looking the slightest bit guilty, he only chuckled at my reaction. But now Creepyface started grinning dangerously too.

"I guess you would know. You let a group of teenagers kill two of your brothers and let them live. Not only that, you even brought one of them with you. I wonder why." His eyes were now piercing mine and I gulped heavily, but stared back bravely. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing I was afraid of him. Klaus wouldn't let him hurt me. Suddenly I started to remember moments with him. Him giving me his blood after making Tyler bite me. The dance. Our 'date'. Our time in the forest. How I had convinced him to stop the war. Our discussion about Voldemort and if we should come here.

Suddenly Klaus jumped up from his seat.

"Stop that right now!" He roared, suddenly furious and Creepyface finally lifted his stare from me and looked at Klaus again.

"Don't ever do that again! Leave Caroline alone, do you hear me?" He was glaring at Voldemort, then his gaze swept over the deatheaters around us.

"Anyone who will only even try to lay a finger on her will die the most horrible death you can imagine." Well, I guess that meant I was safe now? Judging by the deatheaters terrified looks, that really seemed to be the case. Klaus could look frightening when he wanted to. He turned back to Creepyface, shaking with anger.

"That includes you too." He hissed at him dangerously. "We might have made a deal Tom, but don't forget that it was _you_ who came to me, asking for _my help_!" Klaus emphasized, still breathing heavily.

Voldemort smiled cruelly, he didn't seem to feel frightened by Klaus.

"Yes we have made a deal. One from which you will profit just as much as I will." I could see a mad glint in his eyes. And his cruel grin stretched even more on his face as he continued, fixing Klaus with his eyes.

"You've fought in New Orleans for years and have not achieved anything. You didn't even manage to win. You left." His eyes widened in fake surprise, provoking Klaus.

"I can defeat Potter on my own, if I have to. But I am the only one who has any chance to accomplish the things you've asked of me. If I don't help you, you will never see her ever again. And I'm not talking about Caroline Forbes. I really _want_ to help you, but I don't particularly like being threatened." His tone was smooth, almost nice, but even I understood the threat in his last sentence. The murderous glare Klaus was throwing Voldemort now made even my blood run cold, but he seemed to take Creepyface's warning serious enough not to act just yet.

"And stop calling me Tom. I might have been Tom when we met in Albania all those years ago, but I am the most powerful wizard on this earth now. I am Lord Voldemort." Wow. Modesty definitely wasn't a word in Lord Creepyface's vocabulary. His voice failed hiding his anger now. But he wasn't the only one feeling angry. I could nearly feel Klaus's fury coming off him in waves. I tried to think of anything to do to stop this situation from escalating, but before I or Klaus could react, Voldemort started grinning maliciously and continued, throwing me a quick glance.

"Why have you lied to her about our deal? You're not afraid what she will think of it, are you?" He asked Klaus, his high voice dripping of faked innocence. What did he mean by that? The deal was that Klaus would help him in the war – and kill this Harry Potter, which I totally wasn't okay with, but I would find a solution for that later, right now I had different things on my mind. In return for that Lord Creepyface would help him find his daughter, or was I missing something? I turned to Klaus, looking at him questioningly. That seemed to have temporally distracted him from his anger and he looked at me almost apologetically.

"Don't listen to him love, he's only trying to pit you against me." He told me quietly, throwing me an almost pleading look. I could see in his eyes that there was more to it than he was telling me, but I also realized that this wasn't the time or place to start a fight about it, so I simply nodded for now. He looked at me a thankfully and squeezed my hand lightly, before turning back to Voldemort.

"Are we sharing secrets now? How about sharing one of yours?" His voice was a low, dangerous hiss as he glared at Creepyface. But then a small, cruel smile appeared on his lips.

"Could be quite interesting for all your _pureblood_ followers, who believe that you will be the one to raise them to power above all the muggleborns and _halfbloods_." I had no idea what Klaus was talking about, but Creepyface obviously did, as the grin on his face quickly vanished and he glared at Klaus again.

"You might be a powerful wizard now, but don't forget why that is! Without me you would be nothing! You never would have even heard about half of the dark magic that turned you into who you are now." Klaus stated angrily, challenging, and I tried to calm him down a bit by using my thumb to draw circles on his, like he had done for me earlier.

It seemed to work at least a bit and he turned to me. I took my chance and threw him an annoyed and pleading look, hoping that he would finally stop this power game before it turned into a fight. I was not sure if he would win it. At first he didn't seem to understand what I was trying to tell him, but then his eyes widened slightly. He seemed to think for a long moment, obviously still angry, but I know how quickly his moods could change. Finally he sighed and rolled his eyes in defeat. I beamed at him, delighted at my victory and he shook his head amused at my antics. Then he turned back to Creepyface, smirking.

"Oh, and by the way, nobody could miss your change. The obvious lack of a nose makes that pretty obvious." He teased grinning and gestured towards his own nose and I snorted. So Creepyface hadn't always had a creepy face? And here I had felt almost bad for him. I looked at him and noticed that he didn't seem much bothered by Klaus's statement and the tension in the room lifted slightly. The creepy little creatures from before choose this exact moment to bring in the second course, and as the dishes were place before us, everyone visibly relaxed and a bit of quiet small talk started between the deatheaters. Relieved I took a deep breath. We had successfully reached the second course without anyone being killed. But when a little female... goblin-thingy finally placed my plate before me, my good mood was crushed again. It was a soup! _How was I going to survive at least two more dishes?_

xxx

"So, since you seem so sure that you could defeat the teenager as well as the grandpa on your own, why am I here again?" Klaus started a conversation with Creepyface again after the dessert, still a bit challengingly, but he didn't seem to be angry anymore and instead looked like he was enjoying it again. I had tried to keep him talking to me until now, to give both of them a bit of time to cool down and Creepyface had been busy talking with his deatheaters, talking about whatever evil wizards talked about at dinner. Now he looked at Klaus again.

"Oh, I'm not worried about them. Dumbledore is a fool. I _will_ defeat Harry Potter in the end. I _will_ destroy both of them. But I want to make sure that no one gets in my way this time. And Dumbledore seems to have managed to recruit someone who could turn out to be a problem. A new teacher at Hogwarts." Voldemort explained grinning, his voice drawling challengingly, and most of his deatheaters seemed confused now. I looked at Klaus questioningly, but he appeared to be as clueless as anyone else. Some guy that was sitting quite close to Creepyface, with a big hooked nose and greasy hair carefully spoke up.

"My Lord? You think Prof. Mikaelson could be a threat to our cause?" I gasped. That couldn't be a coincidence. Klaus was squeezing my hand tightly now, nearly painfully and I looked at him worriedly. He looked angry again. Fantastic. But at least it didn't seem to be directed at Creepyface this time.

"Elijah." He growled. Voldemort chuckled coldly and I felt the hairs on my neck stand up at the horrible sound.

"Oh, you did not know? I was so sure you would not let him out of your sight after what he did to you." He clearly relished having caught Klaus by surprise. The deatheaters looked even more confused by Klaus's reaction and I noticed Narcissa and the blonde man shifting nervously in their seats.

"He's here?" Klaus was staring right at Creepyface now and I could see his eyes flicker with an emotion I couldn't quite place. Hatred? Determination? Hope? Delight?

"Oh yes, indeed. He's teaching at the school Harry Potter attends. I hope that doesn't change your mind."

"Why didn't you tell me right away? You think I will run away because Elijah is here? For me, that only is an added bonus. I will help you burn down the whole school if we need to. And then I will tear Elijah apart, limb by limb. And you can have that boy. And whatever else you might want." Klaus declared loudly and stood up, raising his glass and a creepy smile appeared on Voldemort's face as he rose from his seat himself and suddenly I found myself amid a crowd of cheering deatheaters.

xxx

"Somehow I can't shake the feeling we're being watched." I told Klaus, when we were finally alone, at our new 'home'.

After the surprisingly positive end of the dinner, Narcissa had shown us the way to the house. I still didn't understand what she had against Klaus's driving skills. Sure he had drunk a bit during dinner, but it was only a short distance and he was... _well Klaus_ . He had driven extra slowly, but still she had looked nearly frightened to death when we finally stopped in the big garden – this time _with_ parking lot.

The house was huge, much too big for only two people and the way Narcissa had furnished it was beautiful, even though a tad bit quaint. Strangely it seemed to lack any electronics what so ever, but I guess we could buy them ourselves. Or rather, Klaus would buy them.

Now we were sitting on the big sofa in the living room, cuddling a bit to calm down after the exhausting evening and eating the delicious cookies our own 'house-elf' – as Narcissa told me they were called – had baked for us. The living room was just as over-dimensional as the rest of the house, with paintings and portraits on the walls and a big curtain covering the whole back wall, which Narcissa had claimed wasn't completely finished renovating yet.

I looked up at Klaus's face and noticed, that rather than worried he seemed amused at my statement and smiled at me.

"Yes we are. It's the paintings. See?" he pointed at one of the paintings on the wall nearest to the sofa. What did he mean by that? Were there surveillance cameras hidden behind the paintings? And what was so funny about that? I found that creepy. I slowly stood up and took a few steps towards the painting, looking for anything uncommon, but it was just a group of people in a music room, that somehow seemed a bit too small for such a great gathering.

They were all wearing different clothes, some were wearing beautiful, long dresses or expensive suits, some were wearing colorful cloaks and pointed hats, and I could even detect a man wearing an old-fashioned nightshirt and a woman in an apron with flour all over her face. No one was playing any of the instruments in the room. Was the painter drunk when he painted that?

Only after a few seconds did I notice that every single person in the painted room was looking at the painter and thus now at the viewer. And they all seemed kind of tense, as if holding their breaths or something.

"Okay, you're right, it's a bit strange and could give you that feeling. It's probably only my nerves still running crazy." I admitted, but he only smirked mischievously.

"Oh, that's not what I meant, love. They apparently want to mess with you." What was that supposed to mean now? He quickly winked at me and turned towards the painting.

"BOO!" I jumped a few steps back, startled, after seeing the people in the painting flinch back and gasp. Klaus chuckled lightly, watching me the whole time, as I took a deep breath and glared at him.

"What was that? Did they really just move?" I eyed the painting more closely now, just like before, it seemed like a normal painting, but I noticed that some of the persons had changed their positions slightly. I frowned. Slowly I reached out, moving my fingers carefully, until they were nearly touching the canvas. I slowly stretched my index finger, but before I could touch the little man, who was standing right in the middle of the painting. He flinched away and looked at me with a look of pure outrage.

"What do you think you're doing?!" I stumbled back again when he suddenly started talking.

"Do you find it proper running around, touching men you don't know? I'm not a funny attraction for you to play with! I am the great Quentin Trimble! Famous author and headmaster of Hogwarts!", he scolded me and I stared captivated as everyone in the painting started moving, now that the game was apparently over.

"Vampires these days. No manners at all." The man mumbled, shaking his head, as the gathering slowly dissolved, some people even leaving the painting and reappearing in the one next to it. I turned back to Klaus, who had watched everything amused and seemed to have trouble not to laugh out. He had obviously already known about this. Figures.

"How does this work?" I asked him fascinated and he smirked again.

"It's magic, love." He told me mysteriously and gave me a quick kiss when I rolled my eyes. Then I had an absolutely horrifying thought.

"Err... Klaus... Can we uhmm... remove the mermaid painting from our bedroom?" for a moment his expression became as horrified as mine. He obviously hadn't thought about that when we had inaugurated the king sized bed after putting our bags from the car into the bedroom.

"How could you not say something?" I blamed him appalled and hit his chest lightly. He only grinned.

"Sorry love. I've been quite distracted at that moment." He told me flirtatiously and put his hands on my waist, leaning forward, until his mouth was near my ear.

"But now, as I'm sure they have all visited the painting upstairs then, at least we don't have to worry about any of the paintings watching anymore, right?" He whispered salaciously and I took a step backwards.

"You did this on purpose!" I was outraged, how could he! His slightly guilty look confirmed my suspicion and I turned furious.

"KLAUS MIKAELSON! TELL ME YOU DIDN'T!" He quickly held his hands up in defeat, all the while obviously trying to suppress laughter.

"That's not funny! If you think I will have sex with you all over the house, no matter how many paintings there are, only because they've already seen us, you're so very wrong!"

"Caroline, love, they're only paintings! They're-" Suddenly he was interrupted by the door bell ringing. I threw a quick glance at the clock. It was 3 am. Who the heck was that? I swear those wizards were trying to drive me crazy.

When Klaus only shrugged as reply to my questioning look, I started towards the door carefully, Klaus quickly following me, wrapping one of his arms around me protectively.

I slowly opened the door and peered outside.

"Stefan?" I greeted him, completely caught off guard by him standing here, in front of the door of my new home, in the middle of the night. We hadn't seen each other in years, not since he had started his new live in Ireland. We still wrote letters and postcards and called the other occasionally though.

"Hello Caroline. Hello Klaus." He greeted us quietly, his voice shaking slightly. Something was wrong.

"Stefan, are you okay?" I asked him worriedly.

"Why don't you come in, mate?" Klaus invited him in, opening the door wide, so Stefan could enter. I gasped slightly when the light from the entrance hall fell through the open door and on Stefan. He looked horrible. Tears were running down his face and there was such a pain in his eyes. His clothes were full of blood, probably not his own. He sniffed and I quickly closed the gap between us and hugged him tightly. I could feel Klaus watching us attentively and when I let go of Stefan again, I could see worry in Klaus's eyes. I quickly grabbed Stefan's hand and led him into our living room, he followed me almost will-lessly.

I made him sit on the sofa, so I could sit next to him, trying to comfort him. It hurt me to see him so broken.

Klaus had used the time I had needed to get Stefan, to make us all drinks and now put a glass in Stefan's and another into my hand. Stefan downed his in one go and from the corner of my eye, I saw Klaus raising his eyebrows concerned. He quickly poured him another drink, wisely having brought the whole bottle with him and then sat down in one of the armchairs, watching us. I wrapped an arm around Stefan's shoulders and tried to think of what to do, when Stefan suddenly spoke.

"Will you kill Elijah?" The question caught us off guard, Stefan's voice was shaking with suppressed emotions when he asked it and I quickly leaned back a bit to be able to look into his eyes. The most dominant emotion there still was pain and despair, but now I could also see the hatred in them and the bloodlust. What had happened? Confused I looked at Klaus for help, but he seemed be just as lost as I was.

"I've heard rumors that he has killed your daughter. And you're here now, so I thought you wanted to get revenge on him. I want to help you." Stefan explained, when we didn't answer and I flinched. I had heard the rumors too, but I didn't believe them. Rebekah had been so sure Hope was safe. She would never cover for Elijah, if she even thought for a second that he had killed their niece.

"Why?" Klaus suddenly sounded suspicious and I glared at him. Now was not the time! Did he think Stefan was acting? Stefan snorted.

"Because your brother has turned into a monster." he answered bitterly, still not giving us any kind of useful information.

"Stefan, tell us what happened. Please." as far as I knew, Stefan was working as a mechanic in Ireland, so what would he have to do with Elijah? Stefan chuckled humorlessly.

"He killed my girlfriend." He slurred and another tear ran down his face. Klaus still didn't seem convinced and I shook my head at him angrily. Stefan downed his third glass, before continuing.

"About a week ago he suddenly showed up at my place, he wanted me to come to this magical school where he is teacher to show them a vampire. He wasn't taking no for an answer. So I went there." He sniffed and took a sip of his new drink.

"On Halloween. And it went great, the students were funny and he was nice and everything. But then I told him about your postcard. Caroline, I'm so sorry. I just thought I should warn him that you're coming here. And he didn't really seem concerned. And then, when I had to go back, he came with me." Stefan's voice broke slightly and Klaus quickly refilled his glass again. Slowly I was getting worried about that.

"He told me that he was part of some kind of resistance against Voldemort and he wanted me to join them. He wanted me to spy on you. But I refused. And we started to fight." he took a shaky breath and wiped his face.

"The noise woke my girlfriend and she came down and..." Stefan sniffed and closed his eyes for a few seconds. I hugged him as tightly as I could. At least Klaus finally seemed to believe him. Instead of suspicious, he just looked angry now. If the situation wasn't as sad, I probably would have smiled at that. He still seemed to care about Stefan. Enough to get worried and angry on his behalf. Not that he needed any excuse to get angry at Elijah these days.

"He gave me three days. To bury her and to pack my things. He said he would come back tomorrow at noon. And that he would slowly kill any friend I had made here, until I would finally do what he wanted. The funeral was today. And I… I compelled all my friends to forget about me and to leave the country. I hope that's enough to keep them safe." Again tears were running down his face and he tried desperately to wipe them away.

"Why didn't he just compel you to do what he wanted?" Klaus asked, not really suspicious, but confused. Stefan chuckled darkly.

"He tried. But the headmaster puts vervain in the school's drinks and I had a bit of pumpkin juice. Maybe I shouldn't have had. Then Jasmin would be still be alive now." His voice broke again, but then he looked up at Klaus.

"So will you? Kill him? Because you're probably the only one who can. I don't stand a chance on my own." He asked him, his look almost pleading and Klaus sighed, taking in Stefan's broken look, full of despair and now with a tiny glint of hope, hope that Klaus would help him avenge his girlfriend. Klaus' expression hardened, his eyes glinting dangerously, his voice cold and determined now.

"Yes, Stefan, I will."


	13. Player 3 enters the game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holidays at Grimmauld place and someone shows up unexpectedly.

**Chapter 13: Player 3 enters the game  
**

_Grimmauld Place number 12 - Monday, 30_ _th_ _of December 1995  
_

**_Hermione:_ **

“So The Prophet is just keeping quiet about all that?” Harry and Ron stared at me in disbelief. Honestly? Why were they even still surprised by that?

“Yeah, I don't know, maybe they just don't care about it? It's only muggles, so why would any wizard be interested?” I replied sarcastically, now angry. I had been feeling riled the whole day and it was slowly getting worse.

With Hagrid's return; his catastrophic first lesson and Umbridge (who became increasingly more determined to bust the DA) making up another stupid educational degree each week _and_ having Harry do detentions with her _every_ evening, school had become very stressful these last two months. Not to mention Harry's stupid obsession with whatever Malfoy was up to when he vanished from the Marauder's Map.

All of that had really made me look forward to Christmas and a week with my parents in the quiet, peaceful, muggle world, before spending the second week of the holidays at Grimmauld Place with the Weasleys. Christmas had been fantastic, but I had soon found out that the muggle world wasn't quiet as peaceful any more.

“Well, I get that they don't really care about a serial killer or the vanishing people, but what about the animal attacks? What kind of animal attacks a human in the middle of the city?” Harry questioned me, his voice sounded angry. I could understand him. While the Daily Prophet kept trashing Dumbledore and Harry and reported what a ‘great job’ Umbridge was doing in Hogwarts, they had not even written a single word about all the dead muggles. But before I could get angry again, Ron interrupted my dwellings.

“Do you think that it could be You-Know-Who's doing? But wouldn't he just use the Avada?” He whispered, confused, throwing a quick glance at Molly to make sure she wasn't listening. She was still determined to keep us out of the order's work and wouldn't take well to us discussing Voldemort. But right now she was sitting far away at the other end of the table, where the adults seemed to be in a heated discussion about the ministry's educational politics and Umbridge.

Molly had convinced some of the order members to join us for dinner and with all the Weasleys staying here in the holidays, the kitchen was quite stuffed. Only Lupin had already gone upstairs. He was currently living with Sirius – officially because he couldn't find an apartment, but I suspected he wanted someone to keep him company and make sure he wasn't doing anything stupid – and because today was a full moon, he had locked himself into his bedroom to sleep there until he changed back. Molly had looked a bit worried at that, but Lupin and Sirius had assured her, that he was fine and completely harmless after taking the Wolfsbane Potion. I turned back to Harry and Ron, lowering my voice so Fred, George and Ginny, who were sitting across from us, talking about Quidditch, wouldn't overhear.

“I don't really think so. Those people died of blood loss without any great wounds. That wasn't done by deatheaters. But I doubt it was an animal either.” I told them slowly and starred into my soup, stirring it thoughtfully.

“So who do you think did it?” Harry pressed on. I've had time to think this over already and had only come to one logical solution.

“It has to be vampires, that's the only thing that makes sense. I'm just not sure where they suddenly came from.” I explained. Harry frowned and starred at his soup, like I had done, thinking about what I had just told him.

 

We were both ripped out of our thoughts by a low buzzing noise that made everyone at the table break off in the middle of their sentence. Suddenly, instead of the loud chatter that had filled the whole kitchen, the only thing that could be heard was the buzzing. Everyone was looking around confused, trying to find the source of the sound, until Elijah rose from his seat, taking his vibrating mobile phone out of his suit pocket. He quickly checked the caller ID and then threw us an apologetic glance.

“Please do excuse me for a moment.” He quickly walked out of the kitchen while answering the call. “Kol. I take it you received my letter?” I noticed the small smile on his face before he stepped into the hallway.

Kol? I had heard the name before… Right! His little brother. The wiza-

“Oh, is that one of those fellytones? But where was the cable? And the buttons?” Arthur questioned Harry delighted, his eyes sparkling with excitement. I quickly looked around the table and noticed the confused expressions on the faces of the others and could barely contain a chuckle. They were reminding me a bit of muggles seeing magic for the first time.

“It's a mobile phone, that's nearly the same but...” Harry beat me to an explanation of mobile phones and I quickly droned him out when I heard Elijah's low voice from the hallway again.

“Okay, so what is the problem?” A short pause, then much louder: “You're what?! Why would you-” He seemed to be listening, then sighed. “Never mind. I'm going to talk to him. It will take a moment.”

He re-entered the room, the phone still in his hand, but he seemed to have ended the call and now looked at Dumbledore.

“I just talked to my brother and it seems as though he may be able help us with the issue I wrote to him about.” he told him cryptically, but Dumbledore seemed to understand him instantly and started smiling.

“Well, that is very fortunate. So you know where it is?” He asked Elijah, sounding relieved, happy almost. Whatever the hell they were talking about seemed to be very important.

“I'm afraid it's not that easy. He doesn't have it. But he has decided to drop in for a surprise visit, so if you do wish to speak to him personally, he's waiting outside.” Elijah explained frowning, obviously not quite as happy with this turn of events as Dumbledore seemed to be, whose eyes lit up at his words.

“Oh I would not pass on that opportunity. The things I could ask him…” He was still smiling and then turned to Sirius.

“Sirius, do you mind if I invite him to join us?” Dumbledore asked and Sirius shrugged.

“Elijah's brother? If he's going to help us, sure. The more, the merrier.” He agreed happily, slurring a bit, already quite drunk. But then looked at Elijah and frowned.

“Oh, do you need me to come too?” He asked and half-rose from his seat, wavering a bit. I noticed the disapproving look Molly threw him and the empty bottle of fire whiskey, which he and Lupin had emptied while waiting for dinner.

“I should think that will be unnecessary.” Elijah quickly told him and Sirius slumped back onto the bench.

Elijah and Dumbledore strode out of the room and I turned to look at Harry and Ron, but it was Fred who spoke first.

“So what do you think he's like? Mikaelson's brother?”

“Well if he _looks_ anything like him...” Ginny trailed off and her brothers started chuckling.

“Well, we'll find out soon, right?” Ron didn't seem to be very interested in this topic and instead turned his attention towards his second plate of soup. That seemed to be the cue for everyone else to resume eating and I took this opportunity to finally finish my own soup too, which was cold now. I could hear Dumbledore and Elijah talking, but couldn't make out their words.

When they re-entered the room, the guy that was with them looked nothing like Elijah. He was a bit taller than him, seemed to be around twenty years old, with brown, curly hair and blue eyes. He was wearing jeans, a simple black t-shirt and a light brown jacket. But the most noticeable thing about him was the bright smirk on his face and the mischievous glint in his eyes. When he stepped further into the room, Ginny bent across the table to me.

“I take everything back. He doesn't even have to look like Prof. Mikaelson.” She whispered, winked and then blushed a bit as I snorted. But she had a point. The guy was definitely good-looking.

“Oh wow so many witches in one place, did I crash a party?” He asked, still smiling brightly, curiously in a heavy British accent. Where did he get that one from?

Everyone was staring at him now, but he didn't seem to be uncomfortable at all. His stance exuded self-confidence.

“You should have told me that you were having so much fun here, I would have visited much earlier.” He accused Elijah, an expression of faked disbelief on his face, then he turned to us.

“I'm Kol by the way. His brother. You probably already knew that. But don't judge me, not everyone in our family has swallowed a giant broomstick. I'm much more fun than he is.” He told us, smirking. Elijah only raised his eyebrows and sighed at his antics, but I could hear a few people chuckle.

“It's so great that you came all the way here to visit your brother!” Molly greeted him and quickly stood up to rush to the oven. “Are you hungry? Oh, what a stupid question, of course you are! Come on, sit down! I'm afraid we don't have any leftover soup, but you're just in time for the chicken and ham pie! We only need another plate and cutlery. Now where did that damn house-elf put the forks again? I could swear he hides them on purpose!” While she was rushing around to find a fork, Kol was staring at her, slightly taken aback. Elijah sat back down and I noticed Fred whispering something in George's ear and grinning, before both of them moved a bit down the bench to make room for Kol to sit down between Fred and Elijah.

As soon as Kol had sat down, Molly put a plate of food in front of him, then charmed the pie to pass itself down the table. Kol thanked her, smiling brightly, but it didn't completely reach his eyes. He frowned, then stared at the plate. Fred seemed to have noticed too and nudged him.

“You better eat if you don't want her to force feed you.” He chuckled.

“Don't worry, she can be a bit overbearing sometimes but you'll get used to it.” George added. Kol just shook his head.

“Oh it's fine. It's just been a really long time since anyone urged me to eat anything.” He chuckled and Elijah threw him an amused look.

“Nobody ever needed too. Most of the time I was busy cleaning up the horrible mess you made when you… had a meal.” He smirked and Kol grinned innocently and shrugged, causing Elijah to sigh. Then he picked up his fork to dive into the pie.

By now, everyone else had started eating again and the chatter from before had returned. Some people were throwing an occasional glance at Kol, but nobody tried to talk to him. Fred was still whispering with George and from the expressions in their faces I could tell they were planning some kind of prank and Ginny, Harry and Ron were now talking about Quidditch – _again_. So, while eating, I couldn't help but overhear Elijah and Kol's conversation, which I wasn't too sad about. I was still eager to find out what Kol was supposed to be doing for the order. Why was Dumbledore so fascinated by this guy? He wasn't much older than we were, how much of a great wizard could he be?

  
xxx

“So, what exactly are you doing here, Kol? Should you not be helping Davina lead the witch faction?” Elijah asked him confused and Kol snorted.

“Oh come on, Davina is perfectly able to do that on her own. She's done so for years _and_ still found the time to kick your and Nik's butt. Besides, do I really need an excuse to visit my favorite brother?” Kol smirked at Elijah, who raised his eyebrows.

“ _Favorite_ brother?”

“Ouch, Elijah. Of course you are!” He proclaimed, but then smirked. “Okay, usually that would be Nik. But he's still blaming me for everything because I changed that damn dagger that started your squabble. I don't particularly fancy being the third wheel either.” Kol complained. “And, from what Beks told me, you seem to have become a lot more fun in the last years. So, for now, you're officially my favorite brother. I thought that feeling would be mutual, but if I'm not wanted here...” He trailed of, clutching his chest theatrically and threw Elijah a look of faked hurt.

Nik? So that was their other brother's name? Elijah had never mentioned it, probably because of their difficult relationship.

“Oh please, brother, you haven't come here to visit me. Davina would not let you leave so easily after she just got you back.” Somehow it was really sad that Elijah didn't believe that Kol was here to visit him. They were family. Kol shouldn't have to have an excuse for wanting to see his brother in the Christmas holidays.

“Yeah, well, she didn't object much either when our _dear_ sister kicked me out of New Orleans.” Kol answered bitterly. Okay, so maybe Elijah was right…

“Rebekah banned you from the city? What did you do now?” Elijah sounded only mildly surprised at this news and Kol smirked.

“Aww well, the Major had a little accident that involved him flying out of a window.” I nearly choked on the pie at Kol's downright gleeful tone of voice. Elijah only sighed, exasperated.

“You killed the new Major? How wonderful.”

“No! I didn't! Why does everyone instantly assume it was me? Not that _you_ had any right to be so judgy, even if I did.” Kol pouted, still smirking. I completely froze in my seat at those words. Did he really kill that man? And he didn't sound guilty in the least. On the contrary. At Elijah's unbelieving look, Kol turned serious.

“I really didn't kill him. I might have suggested something like that once or twice, but I never even got the chance. Someone did this to set me up. Probably Marcel or Hayley. Anyone could have thrown him out of the window. Hell, he could have decided to jump, for all we know! But of course I'm the one who gets blamed! Why does everyone even care? The guy was only human. And an extremely annoying one at that. But suddenly everyone is so concerned with the peace with the humans and gives in to their demands? It's not like they can pose any real threat. The council just used this as an excuse to make me leave. But I'm going to find out who did this and then I'm going to make them pay.” Kol ranted, now angry. He seemed really hurt that nobody had believed him, and with good reason! How could his own sister and his girlfriend just assume he was a murderer? And Elijah did too! What was wrong with that family?

I decided to give them a bit of privacy and focused back on eating. Nobody else seemed to have overheard Kol and Elijah's conversation and I now turned my attention to Fred and George, who weren't whispering any more.

“I don't know why it doesn't work on everyone, maybe if we can find a pattern...” I had absolutely no clue what they were talking about, probably some problems with a new product they had invented. I was about to focus on Harry, Ginny and Ron's discussion instead, when I overheard what Fred said next.

“Yeah, but there is no pattern! We already went through this. It doesn't depend on anything. It worked on most of the kids, but some still only get a running nose instead of a nosebleed. Maybe if we add-” This time I did choke – ironically on the last bite of my pie – and started coughing loudly, interrupting whatever he was going to say next.

When I finally was able to breathe again I remembered what had caused me to choke.

“Tell me you're not using younger students as your lab rats?!” I stared at them, completely horrified by that idea. How long had that gone on? What if something had happened? I felt my anger raise to the surface again and balled my hands to fists.

“It's not like that, we first test the products on ourselves. We only want to make sure everyone reacts in the same way.” George tried to placate me, throwing a worried glance in Molly's direction, but his words only made me angrier. So they had tried them on little kids? How could they?!

I was fuming, my whole body shaking with anger. Why was I so angry? I couldn't remember ever being so angry. And it had come so suddenly. But they did deserve it. They could have hurt the kids. They probably did. They had been talking about giving them a bleeding nose.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! YOU THINK YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, DO YOU?! I WON'T LET YOU GO AROUND TEST THIS STUFF-”

“Hermione!” Elijah's sharp voice cut through the red fog in my brain, letting me think straight again for a moment. I couldn't remember standing up, but I apparently had. Now I was bent forward over the table towards Fred, clutching a shard of a broken plate in my hand. The only thing that had apparently prevented me from attacking the twins was the broad table between us.

I was still shaking with rage and I closed my eyes and tried to take a deep breath to calm me down. It didn't work very well and when I opened my eyes again, I noticed everyone staring at me. I quickly sat back down and blushed, embarrassment now the most overpowering feeling. Great. Now I at least knew what to do next time when I felt so angry, utterly embarrass myself. I tried to make myself as small as possible and preferably vanish into the ground. Of course that didn't work, but finally Kol broke the shocked silence.

“That is quite a temper for such a pretty girl like you.” He said, smirking, somehow he nearly seemed to be a bit impressed. His comment effectively diffused the tension in the room and some people politely started a conversation again. I could still feel my face burning.

“Hermione? Are you alright?” Harry quietly asked me and I nodded weakly.

“Listen we're sorry, and-”

”Don't, Fred. Let's not talk about that now!” I hissed angrily again. I really didn't want to lose it again. The boys obviously got the message, decided to leave me alone and turned back to their conversation about Quidditch. Honestly? How much could you talk about that?

I looked down at the shards of my plate. Luckily I hadn't cut my hands.

“Do you feel better now?” Elijah was looking at me worried and I sighed.

“Yeah, it just… It seems to be getting worse. I've felt riled up the whole day. But this just was… I didn't even register what happened...” I told him quietly, hoping nobody was listening. Suddenly Kol's face lit up and a wide grin appeared on his face.

“Of course! You're the little wo-”

“Yes, Kol. She's the _witch_ who punched me during my own lesson. I should never have told Rebekah. Are you two ever going to forget about that?” Elijah quickly interrupted him and now Kol was staring at him, something about Elijah's statement seemed to have utterly confused him.

“But I thought she was…?” He trailed off when he noticed Elijah's intense, meaningful look.

“Yes, that too. But let's not talk about this, okay?” They seemed to be having some kind of secret conversation going on between them in their cryptic sentences and the looks they exchanged. Were they talking about me?

“So… A bit like Nik? Only the much more awesome version? And she doesn't know?” Kol finally seemed to have understood something. Okay, I had no idea what they were talking about, but it probably wasn't about me. What would I have in common with their brother? Maybe they were talking about Rebekah. That made much more sense. They had mentioned her earlier and why else would they want no one else to understand what they were talking about?

“Exactly. And I would prefer if it stayed this way.” They were keeping something from their sister? Whatever. I decided to just give up on trying to decipher their codes.

“Wow. That's cool.” Kol grinned and then turned his head to look at me. “But I think we have ignored this lovely witch long enough.” He winked at me and I snorted. Really? He had just witnessed me losing my temper and nearly attack Fred and George and this guy was flirting with me? He smirked amused when he saw my disbelieving look. Then he seemed to remember something.

“Let me make that up to you with a little gift?” He offered and I frowned. A gift? He rummaged around in one of the pockets of his jacket and finally took out something silvery.

“Elijah asked me to make this. It should… uhmm… help you not to lose your temper this easily. I'm not sure how well it will work, since my brother forget to mention just how exceptional you are.” His tone was flirty and he was grinning at me, but I didn't miss the short annoyed glance he threw Elijah. Then he put a bracelet on the table before me.

So that was the magical object Elijah asked him to make for me? I felt myself blush involuntarily. But then my curiosity took over and I carefully picked the bracelet up.

I didn't like wearing jewelry very much, but even I couldn't deny it was pretty. It was made out of silver, with tiny colorful gemstones embedded every centimeter or so. Between those, runes were engraved into the silver. I curiously studied them. They seemed not to be the magical runes that we studied in school, those usually were Germanic. These looked to be Viking. They probably were part of the charm placed on the bracelet. Interesting. All of the books I had read about Ancient Runes, had claimed that using Viking runes for charms was very rare. I quickly looked back up at Kol and Elijah, who were watching me.

“Wow, thanks. What kind of charm did you use to make that?” I asked Kol interestedly while slipping it on my arm. Kol seemed delighted by my interest.

“I used a spell I've learned from my mother's grimoire long ago and with the things I know about dark objects I was able to change it that it won't weaken you as a side effect. I hope it will work. My mother had much more power than I have now, but with the silver and the runes as a binder it should probably be enough.” He started explaining and I only stared at him fascinated. Dark Objects were very difficult to create, and he was confident enough to experiment with them? And what the heck was a grimoire?

Kol seemed to have noticed my confused look and frowned.

“Don't you guys learn such things in that school you're going to?” he asked a bit taken aback, but then snorted amused. “Well, what can you expect from a school for magic that lets my brother teach? It can't have very high standards.” He teased Elijah, smirking, who only raised his eyebrows, amused. He had been watching the interaction between us with a smile. Now Elijah smirked back at Kol.

“I don't know brother, from what Albus has told me, you probably know more of Hogwarts’s history than I.” His tone was a bit teasing too. Kol blinked at those words, staring at Elijah in disbelief.

“ _Hogwarts_? Really? _You_ are teaching at _Hogwarts_? That place still exists?” He asked Elijah, surprised, shaking his head in confusion.

“You know Hogwarts?” I asked him curiously. He wasn't that much older than us, but I couldn't remember him ever being a student there. He probably went to some magical school in America. Maybe he had heard about Hogwarts there? But then why would he be so surprised that it still existed?

He turned back to me and started smirking again.

“Oh yeah. Ages ago, I met a really lovely witch that went to Hogwarts. She told me a bit about the school. Her mother was one of the…teachers there. Bunch of lunatics if you ask me. Bickering even worse than my family. But I never got to see the castle. They always claimed they would never let anyone of my family get even near it.” He looked at Elijah amused and shook his head. “Well, times change I guess.”

xxx

After dinner, when we all were stuffed with Molly's delicious homemade ice cream, Fred and George seemed to be getting bored again. I noticed them whispering excitedly with each other, until Fred grinned and turned to Kol.

“Hey, do you want us to show you the house?”

”Yeah, if you're helping the order now, you'll probably be here sometimes.” Fred and George asked Kol, grinning, and interrupting his discussion with Elijah, about who in New Orleans had the most reason to want to get rid of Kol.

“Besides, this used to be the house of a dark wizard family, there's some pretty cool stuff hidden here.” George whispered and I noticed Kol's eyes light up a bit excitedly.

“Sure. Sounds good.” He agreed and all three of them stood up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fred and George exchange a mischievous look, but before I could stop Kol, they were already leaving the room. What were they planning? I seriously doubted they just wanted to show him the house. They were planning some kind of prank… And Kol was the perfect victim. Of course they would jump at the opportunity to prank the younger brother of our teacher. They had given up on trying to prank Elijah pretty soon. Somehow he always seemed to know their plans. But Kol was completely obvious to the twins’ penchant for mischief. Worriedly, I looked at Elijah, but he was deep in a conversation with Kingsley and Tonks and I didn't want to interrupt them.

Well, I didn't really have much else to do. I quickly stood up and stepped behind Harry and Ron and nudged them.

“Hey, want to help me save Kol from the twins?” They were eager to agree, also already a bit bored and, at the least, what the twins had planned could turn out to be funny. Maybe. Sometimes they went a bit too far in with their pranks.

While we were walking up the stairs I tried to focus on their voices to figure out where they were.

“So what's in there?” I heard Kol ask them curiously.

“Oh no, we don't go in there.”

“Much too scary.”

“And too dangerous.”

“Yeah, you really don't want to go in there.”

“You've probably never seen anything that scary.”

“We don't want you to be afraid to come here again.”

“So we're going to skip this room.”

“Unless you insist, of course…”

I heard the twins tease Kol. Their tone of voice clearly daring Kol to enter whatever room they were talking about. What did they want to scare him with? What room in this house was that scary? I wrecked my brain while hurrying up the stairs. Now I could hear Kol starting to chuckle.

“Guys, whatever is in there, I've seen much scarier things, trust me.”

“Well, if you say so...”

“Don't say we didn't warn you.” I heard Fred mumbling “Alohomora” and the creaking of a door that swung open. A locked door? There was no locked room on this floor. There were only some bedrooms. Then it hit me. Lupin!

Without bothering to explain anything to Harry and Ron, I sprinted up the remaining stairs and along the right hallway, but when I turned around the corner, the empty hallway told me I was too late. When I came to a screeching stop next to the open door, they had already entered the room.

They had apparently woken Lupin by entering the room and the werewolf was now fixing them with a glare. He didn't look dangerous or aggressive, the Wolfsbane potion was keeping him sane, but his stare seemed to be angry. He didn't like people knowing about his condition and for someone to see him like that? What were those idiots thinking?

No one had bothered acknowledging my presence, as Fred and George's eyes were fixed on Kol and he was still staring at Lupin. Surprisingly he didn't look scared by the werewolf, instead he seemed confused. Frowning he turned to Fred and George.

“What the hell is that _thing_?” He asked them and I heard Lupin growling slightly at the barely hidden disgust in his voice. The twins seemed confused by his reaction but then George grinned.

“Oh, that's Remus Lupin, our former Professor. Remus, that's Kol Mikaelson.” He introduced them good-naturally, but flinched when Lupin growled loudly at those words. This wasn't good. Lupin might have his human mind, but that didn't mean he couldn't be dangerous when he got angry or felt threatened in this form. And the name Mikaelson definitely seemed to make him angry. Carefully I drew my wand – still remembering how frightening Lupin had been that night in our third year. There wasn't much I could do against an angry werewolf, but it was better than nothing.

“We have to leave. _Now_.” I told them and Fred and George even took a few steps back towards the door. I don't think they had expected Lupin to get angry. How much control did he really have in this form?

But instead of leaving, Kol started grinning, amused: not caring that Lupin was still snarling at him.

“Wait, you say this ugly goblin-hyena-crossbreed was your teacher? Can it even talk? Or did you just take it for walks every now and then?” He chuckled and, before I could rise my wand, Lupin lunged at him. The twins both stumbled back, blocking the doorway and my view into the room.

“Kol!” I know my warning was too late when I heard a loud crash and quickly pushed George away to rush to help Kol, my wand raised.

I stopped dead in my tracks at what I saw.

There was Kol, standing relaxed in the middle in the room, looking mildly irritated, one of his hands still raised. And, on the other end of the room, the werewolf Lupin was slowly picking itself up from the floor, growling - a hole in the wall behind him. Had Kol somehow used unintentional magic and thrown him across the room?

I quickly raised my wand as Lupin growled again and threateningly started to near Kol, his posture stiff, ready to attack again at any moment. I was still debating with myself whether to rather use the 'Petrificus Totalus' or the 'Impedimenta' spell, when the werewolf suddenly doubled over and started whimpering in pain. What was going on?

I turned to Kol and saw him slowly crooking his fingers, his hand pointed at Lupin. Was he doing this? How? He didn't have a wand? But a quick look at the others confirmed that indeed had to be him. Fred and George still seemed to be frozen at the door and were only staring at Kol. Harry and Ron had arrived sometime in the middle of this whole fiasco, but Ron was standing in the doorway just as frozen as his brothers. Harry had entered the room and was standing next to me, wand also raised, but he seemed to be just as confused as me.

A loud, pain-filled whine from Lupin got us all moving again. Harry quickly rushed over to try and help him and I turned to Kol

“Kol, you're hurting him. Stop that!”

“Are you kidding? That thing jumped at me!” He looked, disbelieving, from me to Harry, who glared at him angrily.

“Kol!” where had Elijah suddenly come from? “I believe that is quite enough, brother. I should think Remus will not attack again.” He put a calming hand on Kol's shoulder and, when Kol relaxed his hand, Lupin's whimpering stopped.

“Fine. Now, would someone please tell me what that thing is?” Kol asked us all, confused. By now, the remaining Weasleys and Dumbledore has also appeared in the room and everyone was staring at him again.

“It's a werewolf.” Wasn't that obvious? Kol stared at me, then at Lupin again, who was shakily raising to his feet again.

“ _That_ is supposed to be a werewolf? What happened to him? I've never seen such an ugly wolf.” Kol was now looking at Lupin curiously. What was he talking about? That was what werewolves looked like, they didn't look like normal wolves. Maybe he had never seen a werewolf? But somehow from the way he acted, I doubted that. Suddenly Elijah spoke up.

“He was not born with the werewolf gene, Kol, he was bitten by another werewolf, like him.” Elijah smirked and now everyone was looking at him confused. What was he talking about? Werewolf gene? So it was possible to inherit being a werewolf? It kind of made sense, but I had never heard of a werewolf having kids. Kol snorted.

“Oh come on, Elijah, do you believe in fairy tales now? You don't turn into a werewolf by being bitten by one, that was just made up by some ignorant humans. If you get bitten by a werewolf you die. Well, _you_ don't. But the venom kills everyone else. Humans and Witches and Vampires, doesn't matter.” Kol's tone of voice clearly suggested that he thought the idea was ridiculous. I also noted that he was always talking about 'humans' as if he himself wasn't one. Or maybe the wizards in the USA used that term to talk about muggles?

“You're right, brother, usually that is the case. But it would appear as if the wizards here found a way to save wizards bitten by a werewolf. And this is the result.” Elijah gestured towards Lupin. “The real werewolves have long been nearly extinct here in Britain, and, instead, this other kind flourished here, biting more wizards to extend their population.” Elijah explained and Kol looked at him confused.

“Oh… okay. But there still are real werewolves here, right? Because I have no idea how well some magic will work on this new kind.” He was staring at Elijah as if silently inquiring about something. When Elijah didn't seem to understand, Kol threw me a quick glance, but I could only shrug. I too had no idea what he was talking about. But now Elijah seemed to have caught on.

“There still are a few who carry the werewolf gene, yes brother.” Elijah answered, which somehow seemed to answer Kol's silent question as well, who was smirking at Elijah again.

“And I shouldn’t worry about magic not working. The wolves changed by the venom aren't nearly as strong as those we're used to. Most of them are more powerful in their human form, as they're all also wizards. I'm surprised you have never heard of them before.” Elijah continued, his last sentence slightly teasing and Kol pouted.

“I don't really much care about werewolves, that would be Nik's new-found obsession.” Kol tried to defend himself. “Meeting wand-using hyenas never was on the top of my to-do-list.” At that comment Lupin hissed, offended, with seemed to be Molly's cue to lose it too.

“Now, could someone please tell me what you were doing in this room in the first place?!” She turned towards Fred and George, her voice dangerously calm and they took a few steps back.

“Listen mom.”

“We can explain...”

“It was only supposed to be a joke...” Before Molly could start screaming, I grabbed Ginny and towed her to our room.

This was more than enough action for one evening and I was really tired by now. Not to mention I had to process all the information I had gotten today.

xxx

I was just about to fall asleep when the door to our room opened and Harry and Ron entered.

“Hey, Hermione.” Harry whispered and I sat up in my bed, trying not to wake Ginny, who was snoring softly.

“What do you want?” I whispered back, irritated and Harry at least had the decency to look a bit guilty.

“Well, Dumbledore is downstairs, talking to Elijah and Kol about some super-secret mission, he didn't even want the other order members to know. And we have an Extendable Ear.” The boys looked at me excitedly and I sighed. It was wrong to spy on Dumbledore, but damn it if I wasn’t bursting with curiosity too. I quickly got out of bed and we carefully sneaked down to the entrance hall, as close to the kitchen as we dared, hiding under the stairs to the first floor, so we couldn't be seen from above. I shivered a bit, wearing only my pajamas and wished I had at least put on socks. Well, it was too late for that now.

Harry had let the Extendable Ear crawl under the kitchen door and we huddled together to listen to the conversation.

The first thing I could hear was Kol's teasing, amused voice.

“One day you two have to tell me why you are so obsessed with finding a princess costume. Sound's kinky.” Then his voice turned serious. “But there's really no way he could have it. I never told anyone where I hid it and the place was sealed with a very powerful spell.”

“Are you sure it is still there?” Whatever they were talking about seemed to be really important for Dumbledore. His voice sounded strained.

“Yes, I am. I don't even know if even I could find a way to retrieve it now. The witch bloodline necessary to undo the spell might not even exist anymore.” Kol insisted, but Dumbledore still wasn't convinced.

“Voldemort has got ways to get what he wants, however unlikely it seems at first. If you don't want to tell me where it is, would you mind going yourself and check if it is indeed still there?”

“Well, I could, if you're so concerned about that. I only need a vial with Elijah's blood.” Kol agreed.

“Why would you need my blood?” Elijah asked him suspiciously.

“Oh, afraid what I could use it for?” Kol teased him, then: “The witch needed a powerful magical binding agent that would not be easy to come by and could also work as a security measure. So I made her use my blood. But I'm not in my _Original_ body anymore, so my blood is pretty useless now.” Kol explained. Wow, magical objects, wandless magic, spells bound by blood, this guy seemed to know a lot about really strange branches of witchcraft. No wonder Dumbledore was interested to meet him. But what did he mean by ‘original’ body? Was he using Polyjuice Potion to look like someone else now? That didn't make much sense…

“But if you don't trust me, you could come with me? That would be much more fun. And it would be the perfect opportunity for you to get a break from all the bagged instant food.” Kol teased Elijah. What was that about now? The house-elves didn't cook instant food…

“If you want me to help you, fine. If we leave as soon as possible, we might manage to be back when school starts again.” Elijah agreed. Ron groaned.

“Do they really have to be back by then? I wouldn't mind a few additional free periods.” He whispered and Harry nodded.

“Great. Now, let's talk about my price for helping you.” We could hear Kol's voice again.

“If you would both excuse me for just a moment? It would seem that our conversation isn't quite as private as we would like for it to be.” Elijah suddenly interrupted and I heard a chair scraping on the ground. Harry hastily tried to pull the Extendable Ear back, while we were looking from somewhere to hide. How did Elijah know? He couldn't have heard us talking, could he?

Then the door of the kitchen opened and Elijah slowly walked towards us, eying the Extendable Ear with distaste and throwing us a disapproving look.

“I do believe you should all be sleeping. I don't particularly enjoy people eavesdropping on me.” He told us with a smirk, luckily not as angry as I had suspected and we quickly apologized and hurried upstairs.

When I finally snuggled into my bed again, I dimly realized that I hadn't gotten angry again after the dinner. Even despite the twins' dangerous stunt with Kol and Lupin, I had not felt the urge to murder them. The bracelet seemed to be working.


	14. Planting Doubts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione starts to question whether Elijah is really the person she thinks he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't get confused about the POV in the beginning: it's a OC that is neither very important nor a recurring character or anything, just here to show what is happening far away from Hermione ;)

**Chapter 14: Planting Doubts**

_A small village in Albania - Friday, 10th of January, 1996_

**_Aldoniza Berisha:_ **

_I was still trying to catch my breath when I heard quick footsteps behind me again. Desperately, I tried to push my sore legs to stumble forward and managed to break into a sprint again, running as fast as I could, my lungs burning and my heart racing in my chest and I knew I wouldn't be able to flee for much longer. But if I stopped now,_ he _would kill me, I was sure of that._ He _had been so furious at the sight of the empty tree trunk... I suppressed a sob and I quickly turned into the dark alley on my left. Maybe I could hide somewhere. This was_ my _village. I knew it much better than_ he _did._

_Suddenly, I stepped on something bouncy and slippery. I nearly lost balance, stumbling a few steps until I regained my footing. I had only lost a few seconds, but that had been enough to let my pursuer catch up with me._

" _Oh, come on, darling, don't be that way. We had so much fun together!" I heard his teasing voice at the opening of the alley._ He _too was breathing heavily and I quickly resumed running. If I could reach the other end of the alley before he could catch up… I stopped dead in my tracks, when a dark shadow entered the alley from the opposite direction. I was trapped._

_I tried to swallow down my panic and turned slowly, so I could see both of them, the wall at my back giving me a slight sense of protection._

_I felt a tear slip down my cheek while I watched them slowly coming towards me from both ends of the alley._

" _Finally. Took you long enough to get here. Did you enjoy your nap?" I heard_ him _teasing again, this time directed at the other figure. Nap? No! It couldn't be! He couldn't have woken up again! That just wasn't possible! I had put a stake into his heart. The vampire should be dead._

 _But, sure enough, when I looked at the shadow to my right, I could see the monster's expensive shoes reflecting the moonlight as he slowly stepped over the body, whose ripped-out heart I had stumbled over._ _There was a slightly annoyed look on his face –_ _I couldn't say if it was because of_ _the comment, or because there was a gaping hole in his fine suit – either way, I doubted things would end well for me._

 _I s_ _huddered, wrapping my arms around me protectively._

" _Please. I did everything you asked of me. Please just let me go." I knew they wouldn't. But begging was the only option I had left. The spell I had done had drained most of my power. And while I might have been able to out-run 'Kaleb', I didn't stand a chance against the vampire. It was over._

_When I looked at Kaleb – or whatever his name really was – I noticed a slight hesitation in his step, a little slump of his shoulders, a tiny glimmer of regret in his eyes as he came to a stop directly in front of me. He slowly raised his hand, brushing his finger lightly over my cheek and gave me a sad smile._

" _I'm sorry, darling. Wasn't my decision. You would have become a great witch." His goodbye was brief, his apology sincere, but when the last word left his lips, he blinked and again put on his carefree-lunatic attitude._

_He turned to the vampire, who was watching us from a few steps distance._

" _Are you going to kill her now, or do you want to stand there the whole day?", he complained with a smirk, hastening my execution lightheartedly. Then he turned serious again._

" _If you don't want all your goody-good friends finding out how many witches we had to kill on this trip, we still have much to do. It would be a good idea to clean up the trail of bodies we left and make it look like they killed each other. Maybe manipulate some humans. And we should definitely try to come up with a cover story in case anyone asks where we were. What do you think about South America?" He suggested, his voice so casual, so relaxed, as if he was talking about picnic plans and not how to cover up the genocide of my coven. The vampire threw him a suspicious look._

" _How many times exactly have you done something like that already?" He questioned him. Kaleb only shrugged and tried to cover the grin on his face with an innocent look, but failed completely._

" _Oh well, you know, I have that one brother who tends to get really annoying when I leave bodies lying around, so sometimes it was less troublesome to clean up after myself than having to deal with one of his boring lectures." He teased, still smiling while discussing murder._

_I felt utterly stupid that he had tricked me like that. I felt so betrayed. He had been my hero. He had saved me from the monstrous vampire who had killed so many witches in the country, who had slaughtered half of my coven looking for me, who had snapped my father's neck like a dry branch. I had been sure I would be next. And then, all of a sudden, Kaleb had appeared._

_We had fled into the woods, hiding there. Kaleb was so charming and lovely that I had never questioned anything when he told me about an object, hidden in a tree, which we would need to get rid of the vampire. But of course the spell hiding it could only be broken by a Berisha-witch, which was apparently the reason the vampire had been looking for me._

_It was only when I had managed to open the hiding place, Kaleb had started raging about 'it' having been stolen and the vampire had shown up again, that I figured out the truth. It had all been a big plot to deceive me._

_Kaleb was now leaning against the opposite wall, and the vampire stepped in front of me._

_Slowly he raised his hand, pushing my hair to the side gently, but then his grip tightened at the back of my neck, preventing me from running and extinguishing any hope that I would die quickly._

_When I raised my eyes to look into his face, I found his piercing gaze meeting them. I had expected them to be completely empty, the eyes of a heartless monster. Instead they were full of regret, silently apologizing for what he was about to do. It was this, that made me decide to take one last shot at trying to safe my life._

" _Just tell me why? Why are you going to kill me? I've never done anything to you." I asked him desperately. Maybe if I knew his motives, I could talk him out of it. Or maybe I could at least tell myself that all those murders weren't senseless. That my death had a reason._

_When he answered, his voice was low, just barely loud enough for me to hear him, excluding Kaleb from our conversation._

" _If Lord Voldemort finds out what we were looking for here, he will hide it even better and we would never manage to kill him. If I don't do that soon, a person I care about very deeply will be in danger. I can not risk that.", he told me sadly, but it was an explanation, not an attempt to justify his actions. He didn't care what I thought about him, he would do whatever it took to keep that person safe, whoever he or she was._

_I used to have people like that too. People who would do everything to protect me. But now they were all dead. They had all died trying to keep me safe. And all in vain. The vampire would kill me now and there wasn't a thing I could do to stop him. I would never be able to talk him out of it. I could tell that he would die to protect that person. And he had already proven that he would also kill for him or her._

_When his face changed, showing his fangs, I closed my eyes._

_The last thing I heard was Kaleb's cheerful voice._

" _Well then, bon appétit, brother!"_

* * *

 

_Hogwarts - Monday, 13th of January, 1996_

**_Hermione:_ **

"Ugh. He's still not back... I swear I'm never, ever going to complain about his lessons ever again..." Ron groaned when he plumped down on the bench next to me. Like everyone else, he had thrown a look at the teachers table as soon as he had entered the great hall. But Elijah was still missing.

"Weren't you the one who wished for their mission to take a few days longer?" I teased him, amused. He had been so excited when Elijah hadn't shown up the first day after the holidays. But I understood his frustration just too well.

"Yeah, but I thought we would get some free periods! I didn't think _Umbridge_ of all people would take over his lessons! It's been over a week, Hermione. I don't think I can stand another of her boring lessons. I swear, reading that book is actually worse than listening to Binns! And if Harry loses his temper again today..." He complained and threw another dark look at the teacher table before shoveling food onto his plate. He had a point. Umbridge was a horrible teacher. Initially I had thought it would be useful to have an actual witch teaching us for a few lessons, so we could practice some spells for a change, even though we already did that with the DA. Instead we had only read the stupid book and the most exciting part of every lesson were Harry's regular temper tantrums, which landed him in another detention. And the toad turned more gleeful every time it happened.

Since Ron didn't seem able to join a conversation with the amount of food currently stuffed in his mouth, I turned my attention back to the issue of _The Guardian_ that my parents had sent me.

I had hoped to find out some more about the serial killer in London, who apparently ripped off people's heads and then put them back together. But the police kept most about this case in the dark and the sparse info I got didn't help me much in figuring out if the guy was really just a muggle, or if this was another scare tactic of Voldemort's.

I sighed and picked up the _Daily Prophet_ instead. Of course the killer wasn't mentioned at all. It was as if he didn't even exist. I quickly skimmed the pages, ignoring the chorus of praise about the ministry and Umbridge, as always, and tried to find a hint about Voldemort.

But the only thing I stumbled upon was an article about a horrific war between the different witch clans in Albania, the Krasniqi and the Berisha witches, which had resulted in dozens of bodies left all over the country in the last two weeks. Maybe that was Voldemort? But what would he be doing in Albania again? Was he still recruiting death eaters?

Before I could continue that thought, someone plopped down right across the table, and I looked up, annoyed. Since Harry had already sat down next to Ron a few minutes ago, it could only be Lavender or Parvati now, who probably wanted help with some essay.

Instead I stared right into the smiling face of Kol Mikaelson.

"Good morning, darling. Why so surprised, aren't you happy to see me?" He winked as I only stared at him, perplexed; completely caught off guard. But, at the sound of his voice, Harry and Ron stopped right in the middle of their conversation and a relieved grin spread over Harry's face.

"Kol! What are you doing here? Please tell me your brother is back too?" He asked and, in that moment, Elijah entered the great hall, strolling towards the teachers table, while Umbridge was staring at him, her look full of hatred.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't cross him today, if I were you. He's ruined at least eight of his suits during our trip and that put him in a bit of a foul mood." Kol told us amused.

How could someone ruin eight suits in only two weeks? Well, Elijah probably got rid of a suit as soon as it had only a tiny stain... I couldn't imagine him doing something really messy.

"What took you so long?" I questioned Kol curiously when he grabbed some pastries.

"We ran into some complications." He answered, a bit grumpy. "The witches in Peru weren't quite as cooperative as we would have liked." Something about his tone was off, but I couldn't really put my finger on what it was.

"But you managed to convince them to help you in the end, right?" Harry joined the conversation eagerly. Kol chuckled darkly.

"Well, I wouldn't really say that. But none of them could really refuse Elijah's request for long." Kol grinned, as if he was in on a private joke, his eyes glittering with something dark and a shiver ran down my back. I quickly tried to shake it off, but now I remembered the warning Bill gave me after Kol and Elijah had left for their trip.

xxx

_I was sitting in mine and Ginny's room, working on an essay for Snape, when it knocked on the door and Bill entered the room._

_I threw him a confused look. The others had all used Molly's trip to Hogsmead to play Quidditch in the empty, magically enlarged, ball room. It was ridiculous and stupid, not to mention dangerous, but Sirius had been so excited at the prospect, that I just hadn't had the heart to argue…_

" _Bill? What's the matter? Don't tell me you guys already wrecked the room." I teased lightly and he smiled._

" _No, we haven't. I only took a break. I need to talk to you alone." He told me hesitantly and I frowned. What did he want? I barely knew Bill, sure we had talked a few times during meals, but that was it. But whatever it was he wanted to talk about now, I could tell by the expression on his face, that it was very serious._

" _Oh, of course. Come in." I put my essay away and Bill entered the room, sitting down on Ginny's bed. I looked at him expectantly and after a short moment he finally spoke._

" _I noticed yesterday that you seem quite close to Elijah. You even got that expensive-looking bracelet from his brother." He slowly began and I felt the blood rush into my face embarrassed. That was what he came to talk about? About my inappropriate relationship with Elijah?_

_A lot of people had hinted at that in the last weeks, as I had sometimes visited him in his office. He had given me some books about defensive spells to learn for the DA, but I also just enjoyed his company. We were talking about the ministry's politics and about some topics that I had to write essay's for Binns for. I always was curious in his mostly very unconventional views and he also told me more about the supernatural community in New Orleans._

_I had even managed to convince him of SPEW and since then received a generous donation every week, which I used to buy the wool I needed to knit all the hats and socks for the house-elves. I simply loved discussing things besides Quidditch and Voldemort and Malfoy every once in a while, but of course the others were reading way too much into it. And now Bill was starting with it too._

" _Listen, Bill, it's not what it seems okay? There is nothing between us, honestly. Elijah would never even think about me that way, he just helps me with some stuff for school..." I began, and Bill started blushing too now._

" _No, no, I didn't mean it like that..." He quickly clarified and then took a deep breath and continued._

" _Even if there's nothing more between you, you are spending too much time with him, you're getting too close. You have to be careful okay? Elijah is extremely dangerous and I don't want anything to happen to you." He told me carefully. I stared at him dumb-stuck._

" _What are you talking about? Elijah isn't dangerous, he is working for the order, isn't he? He is on our side." I answered Bill confidently, even though his words had struck something inside me._

_However much time I spent with Elijah, there were still times when some look or word from him would sent a shiver down my spine and my subconscious told me to get away. I had taken to ignore those feelings, but I still wondered. Bill was staring at me suspiciously, as if he knew what I was thinking about, then he answered slowly._

" _Well, he says that he is, but honestly, I'm not so sure about that. After all it was Lucius Malfoy who convinced Fudge to let Dumbledore hire him. Remus and Mad-Eye absolutely loathe him and I'm sure they know something about him, which Dumbledore is trying to hide from everyone." Bill told me, his voice hushed, as if he was worried about someone overhearing the conversation. It took me a moment to take in that information. I wasn't at all convinced that Moody and Lupin's aversion had any hidden reason. Moody was suspicious of everyone and everything and Lupin was probably only acting that way because Elijah was a hunter. But why the heck would Lucius Malfoy help Elijah? That didn't make sense… Unless Bill was right. But that couldn't be. Maybe they knew each other from… wherever Malfoy might have decided to talk to a squib…_

" _Oh come on Bill, what are you implying? That he is a spy for You-Know-Who or something? That's just ridiculous! He might have some secrets, but I don't think it's as bad as you seem to think." I felt the need to defend Elijah now. With a family history like his, I would probably keep some things quiet too._

" _Besides, McGonagall seems to have known him for some time now and even when they met he had already tried to kill Klaus, he won't suddenly turn evil and help You-Know-Who. Especially not if that means siding with Klaus." I added and Bill looked at me suspiciously._

" _Do I even want to know how you found out that Klaus is working with You-Know-Who now?" He shook his head. So that was a fact now? You-Know-Who had succeeded in winning Klaus to his cause? Sirius had only told us that he was_ trying _to do that…_ _I mentally stored that information to tell Harry and Ron later, then returned my attention to Bill, when he continued talking._

" _But you're right, that's one of the reasons Minerva convinced us to ask him for help. And he is a great help in predicting Klaus's next moves. But I asked around a bit. Tried to catch some gossip in Gringotts. And the goblins… I mean… they're not even scared of Voldemort. But they became wary when I mentioned the name Mikaelson, telling me never to trust any of them. And I heard_ _rumours_ _about what he did in New Orleans..." Bill stopped, apparently not wanting to go into further details and I frowned._

" _How do the goblins know about the Mikaelsons? Why would they even care about an_ American _family?" I asked him confused. Sure, Rebekah and Kol seemed to have some kind of_ _political power_ _in New Orleans, but why would the goblins in Great Britain care about that?_

" _The Mikaelsons apparently were a very influential family here once. They even have a vault down in the deepest depths of Gringotts, right between the Lestrange's and the Malfoy's. Only the oldest, most powerful wizarding families have a vault there. Those are very few, that are protected by dragons and were only available right after Gringotts was opened 500 years ago." He explained and I could only stare at him flabbergasted for a moment. That was news for me. Then I got my smarts together again._

" _But, Bill, only because his family was powerful wizards 500 years ago doesn't really say anything about Elijah. He can't even do magic." I pointed out. Seriously? Shouldn't everyone have noticed that by now? Elijah wasn't really trying to hide it. Bill watched me thoughtfully for a moment._

" _You know, until yesterday I thought so too. I've never seen him use any magic and I'm sure he doesn't possess a wand. But after I saw what his little brother did to Remus yesterday… That wasn't just reactionary, unintentional magic. Kol is a very skilled, powerful wizard._ _S_ _o what makes you so certain that Elijah isn't the same?" Bill questioned and I realized he could be right. Maybe Elijah simply didn't_ need _a wand?_

" _So you think he is a wizard too?" It was more of a rhetoric question, but Bill elaborated anyway._

" _Think about it, Hermione. What use would a mere muggle be against You-Know-Who? Or would Lucius Malfoy even consider talking to a squib? Whatever Elijah might be, he definitely is no ordinary muggle. He is something dangerous and really powerful. So, please be careful."_

_xxx_

I had mused over this conversation every now and then, but with Elijah gone, it just didn't seem as important as more pressing concerns like preventing Harry from getting another detention with Umbridge. But when I threw another look at him now, I shuddered involuntarily and my heart sped up fearfully. I quickly shook my head and tried to get rid of the feeling. This was getting really annoying. Bill might have been right that Elijah was probably a wizard and not a muggle, even thought he was very skilled in muggle fighting, but that still didn't mean Elijah was dangerous. Now I only had to convince my subconscious too.

Harry's next question ripped me out of my thoughts.

"But you managed to get what you wanted?" He asked Kol curiously and I saw Kol's expression darkening

"No, we didn't." He mumbled, sulking.

"What's the matter? What happened?" I asked him carefully and he looked at me.

"What happened? I'll tell you what happened!" He hissed, suddenly seeming angry. "That wanna-be dark lord thinks he can just steal my stuff and get away with that! It's bad enough that Nik does it all the time, but some stupid evil wizard? And I still haven't figured out how he even found out about it or managed to get it. I really don't care much about him or your war against him. But stealing _my_ stuff? That's personal now." Kol raged, nearly crushing the croissant in his hand. He didn't care to explain in more detail what exactly Voldemort took and I thought it wiser not to ask him about that right now, but whatever it was, did he really intend to fight Voldemort because of it? That was insane! Didn't Elijah tell Kol how powerful You-Know-Who was? Did Kol really think he could take him on in a fight?

I shook my head at that ridiculous thought.

But I couldn't help but notice that, even though he was absolutely seething with rage, I didn't feel threatened by Kol in the least, none of the usual dread I felt when being near Elijah was making me shiver, or sent my heart racing. I felt perfectly calm and okay, which meant my anxiety wasn't caused by their family or some special branch of magic they were practicing. So what was it about Elijah?

Before I could think of a way to try and calm Kol down, we were interrupted.

"Oh, hello, Kol!"

"What are you doing here?"

The twins suddenly sat down next to Kol, staring at him curiously. Kol's face lit up again, his anger nearly forgotten and a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. He didn't seem to mind them joining us and only shrugged.

"I'm staying here for a bit. Dumbledore thinks Voldemort hid a mystical object here in Hogwarts and I'm looking for it." He explained calmly now. He was talking about the object Voldemort stole from him, wasn't he? Why was he being so secretive about that? What could this thing be? Why was it so important for Dumbledore? And why would Voldemort hide it in Hogwarts of all places?

"Why would Dumbledore ask _you_ to look for it? Can't he just search the castle himself or ask the house-elves?" Ron asked confused. He did have a point. Kol had only just arrived here, he didn't know the castle at all. Kol swallowed his croissant and grabbed a cup cake before answering.

"He already did. Searched the whole castle twice. He didn't find it. But I'm the only living person who knows what it looks like, so he hopes that I might have more luck. And I finally get to see Hogwarts." He grinned, obviously delighted about that.

"Where did you go to school then?" I asked him interested, absentmindedly fumbling at my new bracelet. He had already proven that he was a very able wizard, skilled in a lot of different kinds of magic. So where did he learn all that?

"Oh, here and there. I've traveled a lot and learned from witches all over the world. But I mostly stayed away from Britain. The wizards here tend to be so arrogant and prejudiced. The lovely ladies at Beauxbaton were a lot more willing to show me their craft." He grinned and winked suggestively, leaving no doubt about how he convinced them to do just that. I grinned, amused. He seemed so relaxed now, an exited glint in his eyes and a carefree grin had replaced the anger that had dominated his expression before.

Suddenly, I saw him looking through the corner of his eyes at his right, where Fred was sitting and his hand twitched a bit.

There was a splash and Fred and George spluttered, coughing and dripping with the pumpkin juice Fred had been about to drink. I started chuckling, my voice mixing with Kol's laugh and once the others figured out what had happened Ron and Harry joined in. Fred and George were looking a bit baffled, but then a big grin spread on their faces.

"That was for trying to scare me with that ugly werewolf." Kol told them good-naturedly, he didn't seem to be angry at their dangerous prank.

"Yeah, sorry, we didn't think Lupin would react like that."

"Tell you what, we'll make it up to you by helping you search for that thing you're looking for."

"Right, because nobody knows this castle as well as we do."

"And you have to teach us how you made the juice explode like that." George added excitedly, apparently already going through all the possibilities that would give them.

I watched them worriedly as they left the table to go and change their soaked clothes. I didn't want to imagine what they and Kol would get up to.

Kol was still grinning mischievously when someone else joined our table, sitting down on both sides of him.

"Hi there! We saw what you just did there." Lavender started and threw a wide smile at Kol.

"Yeah, that was really cool." Parvati added and Kol looked from one to the other perplexed for a moment, but then started grinning.

"Oh, hello, Ladies! To what do I owe the pleasure of two such beautiful girls in my company?" He asked them flirtatiously and, of course, Lavender caught on immediately.

"Oh, you know, we thought you could maybe show us how you did that. And maybe what else you can do." She winked playfully, obviously hinting on something else entirely. "I'm Lavender by the way."

I snorted disgusted. Lavender flirting with every good-looking guy she could find was ridiculous, but Kol joined her game right away, seemingly enjoying toying with her. Lavender had no idea he had a girlfriend in New Orleans.

I turned away, and only now noticed the look on Ron's face.

He was staring intently at Kol and Lavender, he didn't seem to be able to turn his eyes away and his ears had turned red, as they always did when he got angry. What had Kol done to him? Was he angry at Kol's little prank? That couldn't be… Ron had laughed just like everyone else. Why was he suddenly so hostile?

It hit me when Lavender started laughing at something Kol had said and a look of hurt came into Ron's eyes. He wasn't angry at Kol. He was jealous.

The pain in my chest made it nearly impossible to breathe for a moment and I quickly took a sip of my coffee so I didn't have to look at either of them. Why did it hurt so much? I already knew Ron didn't see me as a 'real girl', he had proven that when he hadn't even considered asking me to the ball last year. But he had also been so angry when I had shown up with Victor that I had let myself imagine that maybe he really did care about me…

"Wait a second, you're not a vampire again, are you?" Lavender suddenly interrupted Kol, as if that thought had suddenly occurred to her for whatever reason. Kol was staring at her, caught off guard by her question, but his expression was suspicious.

"Now why would you think that?" He asked her carefully. And I supposed it was a really odd question to be confronted with so suddenly. "Don't I look like a real proper wizard?" He gestured towards his black cloak proudly. "I even got a wand _and_ I bought one of these funny hats, but that one is upstairs." He added, pouting a bit at the fact that we hadn't noticed, but nonetheless grinning like a fool. He sounded a bit like a kid telling everyone proudly about their fantastic Halloween costume. I smiled at that comparison. Maybe the wizards in America wore normal muggle clothes? That would at least explain his excitement and also Elijah's fondness for suits. If he indeed was a wizard too...

"So, you're not? Good. I'm sorry, but Prof. Mikaelson really tricked us with Stefan when we did that lesson about vampires and since you showed up at the same time as he returned, I thought..." Lavender trailed off, embarrassed at her question now and Kol burst out laughing.

"Elijah taught you about vampires and he decided to show you bunny-eating _Stefan Salvatore_ as an example? That's just ridiculous! As if he didn't have a much stronger vampire so ready at hand..." Kol was still giggling. I guess it made sense that he knew Stefan, but I didn't really understand what was so funny about that. Kol only shook his head when I threw him a questioning look.

"So, if you're not a vampire, where do you know Prof. Mikaelson from then?" Lavender tried to change the topic.

"Oh, I'm his brother." Kol answered casually and Lavender starred at him surprised.

"You're his _brother_?" She threw a look at Elijah then looked back at Kol critically.

"Really? You guys don't look alike at all..." For whatever reason, Kol also seemed to be amused by that comment.

"You're honestly the first person to ever say that." He chuckled. What was up with all that now? Lavender was completely right, they had nothing in common. I just didn't get that guy, it was as if he was constantly amused about some kind of inside joke that nobody else understood...

xxx

Kol continued flirting with Lavender until Fred and George returned, now with freshly washed hair and a new set of cloaks, which weren't sticky with pumpkin juice anymore.

"So, up for your tour through the castle?" George asked Kol, grinning.

"Yeah, we have a free period now until noon, so let's get started." Fred added.

"After that you have to continue searching on your own, we have a Charms lesson after lunch."

"Or maybe you could come with us."

"Yeah, that's a great idea! I'm sure Flitwick wouldn't mind."

"Charms?" Kol seemed excited at that prospect. "Like waving a wand around in the air? I've always wanted to try that." He grinned and quickly stood up, he seemed to have completely forgotten about Lavender now, clearly much more interested in an adventure with the twins, than in some meaningless flirt. He had never been serious about that.

She stared after him angrily until he and the twins had left the great hall, then let out an indignant huff and stalked away herself, Parvati following on her heels.

Finally! The ensuing silence let me try and order my thoughts at last.

What was that object Kol had been talking about? What could be so important for Voldemort and Dumbledore?

Maybe I could try to find out more from Kol or Elijah. I turned to look at Elijah, who was still sitting at the teachers table, talking quietly to Dumbledore. Was Bill really right about him? Could he really be a wizard? I had never seen him use magic and he always wore dark suits and never a wizard cloak. But on the other hand, he never seemed intimidated by all the wizards around him, as a squib would indubitably be. On the contrary. Lupin and Umbridge had been pretty intimidated by him. He just had an air about him that made you feel so young, small and stupid…

I was disturbed again – seriously? What was it with today? - when Hedwig landed in front of Harry, carrying a small letter. Harry carefully untied it from her leg, while Hedwig was nibbling on a piece of his toast.

"It's from Dumbledore." He told us, confused, after checking that nobody was listening and opened the letter quickly.

"He wants me to come to his office this evening…" Harry explained, turning the letter to look for some kind of additional information or explanation, but the back was empty. What did Dumbledore want? Well, I guess we would find out soon enough.

"Don't you have detention with Umbridge this evening?" I reminded him, and the boys stared at me, incredulous.

"I don't think that really matters, Hermione. Surely _Dumbledore_ can get him out of it!" Ron replied and turned towards the teachers table, grinning smugly at Umbridge.

Whatever. I shrugged, put the last piece of my own toast in my mouth, and started plotting for the Defense against the Dark Arts Lesson this afternoon. I was determined to clear up the question if Elijah was a wizard once and for all.


	15. Testing the Theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione is determined to find out if Elijah is a wizard or not.

**Chapter 15: Testing the theory**

_Hogwarts - Monday, 13th of January, 1996  
_

**_Hermione:_ **

„Hermione! What are you already doing here? I thought you wanted to look up something in the library?", Harry asked me confused, when he and Ron arrived early in front of our DADA classroom. At lunch I had eaten as quickly as I could and then excused myself with my usual explanation so I would have enough time to… prepare my plan. Now I only had to wait for Elijah to arrive and see how he would react. By the end of the lesson I would finally know if he was a wizard or not.

A few minutes later, Elijah came around the corner and walked down the hallway to the classroom. I was a bit nervous how he would react, especially if he somehow figured out who was responsible for all the _pranks._ I really felt guilty for placing all those traps. But I just had to know the truth. All this not knowing was driving me crazy.

Anxiously I was watching him, as he was walking towards us, getting closer to the radius of my muggle-repelling charm with every step he took.

He greeted us all with a smike, but threw us a slightly questioning look. Probably confused as to why we weren't sitting inside the classroom. But nobody had even tried to enter the room, when they had seen Harry, Ron and me waiting outside. They had just taken our lead and waited in the hallway too.

Elijah took another step forward. And another… and then suddenly he seemed to be distracted by something. As if he had just heard or remembered something important. He stopped dead in his tracks, closing his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. Then he turned around slowly and I panicked.

What was I supposed to do now?! I didn't want him to leave! Muggles usually remembered to do something that would take them far away from the place the charm was placed on. In Elijah's case this would probably be something in New Orleans. And then we would be stuck with Umbridge again.

This was bad. I had been so convinced that as a squib he would possess at least enough magic to be able to pass the boundary, that I hadn't even considered this possibility. It was only meant as an additional proof that Elijah was a wizard. I tried to calm myself down. I had to find a way to make him stay. What if anyone found out what I had done? Messing with a teacher's head certainly was reason enough to be expelled! Okay, think, Hermione!

My panicky thoughts were interrupted by Elijah's smooth, icy voice.

"Mrs. Umbridge. What an unwelcome surprise. How may I help you?", he asked and I followed his cold gaze. In my panic I hadn't noticed Umbridge entering the hallway. She had already crossed half of the way to where we were standing and looked furious. I exhaled relieved. So it hadn't been my charm that had distracted Elijah.

"Prof. Mikaelson, as High Inquisitor of this school I expect an explanation where you have been! The term continued a week ago!", she told him sneering and Elijah threw her a fake polite smile. I quickly made sure that everyone's attentions was fixed on Umbridge and Elijah, and then carefully pulled out my wand.

"I believe Prof. Dumbledore has already told you, I had to help my brother take care of some important business.", he explained calmly and Umbridge huffed disgusted.

"Yeah, I can imagine..." she trailed off, when his smile dropped from his face and his icy look bore into hers. She was clever enough not to make a comment about Elijah's family again.

"This conversation is over. It would be best for you to let me start my lesson now.", he informed her calmly, but I didn't miss the dangerous undertone.

Umbridge opened her mouth, but then apparently thought better of it, snorted indignantly, turned on her heels and stalked back down the hallway without another word. When everyone around me started whispering at once, I quickly used the opportunity to whisper "Finite Incartatem" as quietly as I could, undoing the muggle-repelling-charm, before Elijah could really reach its radius. That had been a really idiotic idea.

Elijah finally turned around, looking at me with raised eyebrows. I tried to put on my most innocent, serious look and smiled at him. I still had a plan B. And C. _And_ D.

Elijah quickly walked over to the classroom door, turning the door-knob and attempted to push the door open. Only that it wouldn't open that easily. It seemed as if _someone_ had locked the door magically. If he really was a wizard, a simple "Alohomora" would open it. If not…

Elijah looked confused for a moment, then tried again. When it still wouldn't open, he shrugged and apparently pushed a little bit harder. With a low crunching noice, the door gave way and opened. Elijah entered the room as if nothing had happened and the class followed. Nobody even seemed to have noticed that something had happened at all.

And what _had happened_ really? It had definitly not been what I had suspected or hoped for. Had he silently undone my spell? Or maybe something had been wrong with my spell in the first place…

But when I stepped through the door, I saw that the wood around the lock was splintered, as if it had been opened by brute force. How was that possible? Elijah had just casually pushed. And the door was massive wood. I doubted I could even have kicked it open. There was no way he could have just done this with a gentle push. Unless the door had already been broken or really brittle. But I hadn't paid enough attention earlier to know if this was true. On the other hand he could also have he used wandless, silent magic to blast the lock. Maybe force was easier with that kind of magic than a controlled spell to unlock it… _Just_ _Great!_ This plan had been completely useless...

I entered the room last of my class and instantly looked at Elijah to take in his reaction. He was staring puzzled at the desks in his classroom, which all had been training mats this morning. Nobody else noticed, because this was exactly how the room had been furnished the last week, when Umbridge had given the lessons. But I knew someone had changed them back already, either Elijah himself, or maybe McGonagall or Dumbledore, before Elijah's first lesson. Transfiguring all those eleven mats back into desks again in only 5 minutes was definitely an accomplishment I was proud of. If only I could tell Prof. McGonagall about that, but I doubted she would appreciate my efforts…

Elijah sighed exasperated and went to the front desk, casually pushing it to the side. Then he turned to us.

"Now, everyone please change your desks into our usual training mats, then we can get started.", he told us calmly, as if he was only giving those instructions to give us additional training at Transfiguration. I huffed anoyed. I had already got enough of that, thank you very much! And all for nothing… So far, none of my plans had gotten me any further in figuring out if Elijah was a wizard... I sighed and took out my wand to change the desk back. When I looked up at Elijah again, I noticed him watching me intently, a slightly suspicious look on his face. Was he figuring out what I was trying to do? Probably not. Anyone could have pulled these pranks as simply that: pranks. I blushed a bit at the thought that the twins would probably be really proud of me when they heard about this lesson at dinner… but I _did_ have a good reason for doing this: I had to find out the truth about Elijah. And asking him didn't work. I had tried often enough, when I had tried to get him to admit or diffuse my theory that he was a monster hunter. He always avoided answering, distracting me or just changing the topic. So now, I had to resolve to different methods, as much as I despised them. I sighed. I really had hoped to be able to avoid plan D…

xxx

This lesson I was again paired with Neville, even though Harry and Ron now also regularily trained with him, since my major hysterical breakdown three months ago. And to be fair, Neville had really improved a lot, also through the DA, and was quite a good partner now.

For today, Elijah had decided that we would spend this lesson revising everything we had done before the holidays. He didn't even utter a single word about Umbridge's lessons last week.

So while I was sparring with Neville, I put my backup-plan in motion. Slowly, so that he wouldn't become suspicious, I maneuvered our training-fight more to the edge of the classroom, until we were positioned right. Then, when a right-handed punch gave me the opening I needed, I quickly took a step forward, grabbed his arm and used the momentum to give him a push forward. As I had planned, he stumbled right into the cabinet that stood there. Of course I had put a cushioning charm on it earlier, so that he wouldn't get hurt. Neville quickly turned around again, throwing me an annoyed look. It was really bad etiquette to push someone against a piece of furniture in a fun fight. I smiled apologetically, but my attention was focused on the cabinet now. The force of the impact had rattled the cabinet, hopefully waking the group of cornish pixies I had put to sleep in it. For a moment, nothing happened and I was already trying to think of a way to shake it inconspicuously again, when a shrill screech erupted from the inside.

The whole class turned silent at that, everyone staring transfixed at the cabinet, when the doors started rattling, little fists banging at it from within.

Any second now, the pixies would break free and probably cause a lot of chaos in the classroom. But I wasn't worried. Pixies were pretty harmless. It wasn't really hard to deal with them - unless you were called Lockhard of course… But Elijah was a really competent teacher, so he surely wouldn't have any problem…

I turned around to gauge his reaction and stared right into his suspicious eyes. Damn. He seemed to have figured out that I wasn't entirely innocent of all the strange things happening in this class today. But instead of the angry look I was expecting, an amused smirk spread across his face and I knew he had understood what I was trying to do. Perfect… That would make it so much harder to discover the truth, as Elijah would now try his hardest not to use any magic, just to annoy me… He apparently shared that thought and raised a eyebrow challengingly. I chuckled. That confident look would disappear soon enough, when he had to try to subdue the pixies without magic. With a hidden flick of my wand, I finally set them free and all hell broke loose.

The pixies flew up and then spread in every direction of the classroom, wrecking havoc everywhere, just as I remembered from our second year… Neville seemed to be thinking about that lesson too, he stood with his back pressed against the wall, clutching his ears protectively, staring at the pixies. A lot of the other students, including Harry and Ron, were rather enjoying the disruption of the lesson, nearly all the Griffindors had their wands out, using this opportunity as target practice for the freezing spell we had done in the DA last week. Noone really suceeded in hitting anything besides the walls, the ceiling or the windows - pixies were rather hard to hit when they were flying around - but at least this was actually proving to be rather useful as a lesson.

Elijah seemed to think the same, he didn't do anything to stop either students or pixies, but had only taken a few steps back and was now leaning casually against the wall, his arms crossed. Damn! I had done this to force him to do some kind of magic, not lean back and watch us do all the work!

A group of pixies now managed to cut the stings of the candalabra that was hanging on the ceiling, and before I could register what was happening, Elijah had pulled me to the side. Just in time before the whole thing came crushing down, right on the spot where I had stood only seconds ago. How had he done that so fast?! Maybe he had figured out the pixies' plan much earlier and already prepared to save me. Even though his posture was relaxed, his eyes were flittering rapidly across the room, scanning it for danger for the students. That was… impressive. How could he even take all of that in so quickly?

"What a strange coincidence that those little creature choose my cabinet to take a nap in. But I will definitely keep this in mind for my other lessons, it is a great trainings exercise.", he commented smiling, not for a moment taking his eyes off the pixies and students, that were taking his classroom apart. "You wouldn't by any chance know where they came from and where I might get some more?", he asked casually, and I grinned.

"Well, of course I have _no idea, where these came from._ What I _do_ know is, that a group of them are living in the forbidden forest since a teacher brought them here for a lesson 3 years ago.", I answered as innocently as I could. Elijah chuckled and shouted a quick warning at Dean, who was just able to jump out of the way, before a half-frozen pixie could hit the back of his head.

"If you want to get them in here for a lesson again, I'm sure Hagrid would be more than willing to help you draw them out of the forest with a bit of unicorn milk.", I added, glad that he wasn't angry at me. "Or you could offer them a warm place for the winter. They did seem quite comfy in the cabinet.", I suggested and Elijah snorted.

"I'm not su-", he didn't get to finish the sentence and instead ducked quickly, and a mass of green grime hit the wall behind him. The Slytherins had decided to join the pixie hunt, throwing around all kinds of spells.

Suddenly something was pulling my hair, drawing me upwards a bit, until I was only standing on my tiptoes. I let out a small screech and started flinging my arms desperately at the pixies and actually managed to get rid of them. Of all but one. It was tangled in the midst of my bushy hair, and couldn't get out. Carefully I raised my hands to try and free it, but instead I felt a sharp pain in my finger and yelped.

I quickly got my hands away and put my thump with the distictive pixie tooth marks into my mouth, sucking it. Elijah turned around, and, when he saw the pixie in my hair, smirked a bit. He somehow managed to get the pixie out of my hair without many problems. Instead of letting it fly away, he kept a tight grip around the tiny creature's body and eyed it curiously. The pixie didn't fight or try to bite him as it had done with me. It was staring at Elijah with big, terrified eyes, absolutely petrified.

Then it let out a shrill, loud scream and the room went silent. All the pixies had stopped whatever they were doing at once, hanging there, in mid air now, staring at Elijah with the same horrified expression. That was creepy… I had never heard of pixies reacting like that. My fellow classmates seemed to be just as confused as I was and slowly lowered their wands.

Before I could make sense of any of this, a loud "BOOOOOOM" erupted from somewhere on the floors below us. The explosion shook the floor of the classroom, and people stumbled and fell on the floor. I nearly lost my balance too, but Elijah was still standing next to me and quickly grabbed my arm, steadying me. How he managed to keep upright was a mystery to me, but when the floor stopped shaking, we were the only ones still standing.

I looked around the room. It looked horrible. Everyone else was on the floor, covering their heads with their arms. The plastering that had come down from the ceiling had covered everything under a layer of dust. And there was still all the chaos and destruction the pixies had caused. The candelabra and the cabinet were shattered, the walls were covered with slime in varying colors and the content of our schoolbags was scattered through the whole room. But the pixies were gone.

Elijah had let the one in his hand go to catch me and they had all fled through one of the broken windows.

Slowly everyone began to rise, dusting their clothes off and finally Ron blurted out what everyone was thinking.

"What the bloody hell was that?!"

xxx

We had to wait until dinner to find out the answer. There were hundreds of theories about what happened. From the usual suspects like Neville blowing up a cauldron in Potions or the Weasleys playing some kind of prank over things like a duel between Umbridge and McGonagal to such wild ideas like Dumbledore listening to a mermen orchestra. But my personal favorite was when I overheard a group of third years telling each other about seeing cornish pixies flying away from the castle and speculating that they had dropped the giant squid on Trelawney's tower.

My first clue to the truth, however, were the singed eyebrows of Fred and George, when we sat down next to Kol, opposite of them. Of course they were the source of this commotion. When they looked up, I threw them an angry glare. They had ruined everything! If the explosion hadn't caused Elijah to end the lesson early, I might still have tricked him into using magic. The pixies had been just about to do something! But now his reaction afterwards finally made sense. I had found it very strange that he only rolled his eyes amused and sighed exasperatedly after that big of an explosion. But of course this was a very common reaction to the twins mischief. But then again, how in Merlin's name had he known that it was caused by the twins and not something serious? Another mystery for me to wonder about. As if the list wasn't already long enough!

"That explosion was bloody amazing! How did you do that? You have to tell us everything!", Ron asked them, excited. Fred started to chuckle and shrugged sheepishly.

"Well, actually _this_ time it wasn't entirely our fault."

"The only thing we're guilty of is trying to teach him some magic!", George complained amused and nodded towards the other side of the table. Kol grunted.

"How is it my fault the stupid feather decided to explode? You told me 'Wingardium Leviosa' would make it fly!", he muttered. I turned to look at him and barely suppressed a laugh.

He was wearing the wizard hat he had told us about so proudly at breakfast, but it didn't really look new anymore: There were big holes burnt into it through which I could see his burnt hair underneath. Like Fred and George his eyebrows were singed and he didn't seem to have eyelashes any more. His face was still smeared with patches of black.

When Harry and Ron weren't able to fight it anymore and burst out laughing, Kol glared at us angrily.

"Hey! Stop laughing! It's not funny at all! I'm still the most amazing wizard you'll ever see!", the big grin on his face destroyed the angry facade.

"You tried to use Wingardium Leviosa and it caused such a big explosion? How did you manage that?!", I asked him curiously and he sighed.

"I guess I was underestimating the magic-amplifiying power of a wand and fused way to much of my own magic into the spell. Apparently you guys use nearly nothing of your magical power when doing spells. But I just can't _not_ do it. It's really frustrating. For some reason Snape wouldn't let me into his potions lessons, so I used the last hour to try the spell again – this time outside. The best I managed was the feather turning into a bird and flying away, but that still wasn't really what I was trying to do...", Kol explained and I listened interested. He had accidentally turned a feather into a whole bird?! That was really advanced magic and still he didn't seem to be able to do a simple Wingardium Leviosa… I wonder if-

"Maybe it's the wrong spell for you to begin with.", I offered my theory to Kol and Ron looked at me as if I had suddenly lost my mind.

"Hermione. Wingardium Leviosa is like the easiest spell there is. Don't you remember? We did it in our very first Charms lesson. If he can't even do that one right...", Ron trailed of when he noticed Kol's glare and I sighed.

"Ron, didn't you listen at all? He isn't a first grader. He is using _too much_ magic, because he is used to it. We couldn't have done the spells we learn now when we started at Hogwarts, because they need more magic and a lot more concentration. But Kol has way more magic of his own than any of us, and doing wandless and unspoken spells takes a lot more concentration than anything we do with our wands, so that won't be a problem either.", after my explanation to Ron I turned to look at Kol again, who was listening carefully to what I was saying.

"It's only an idea, but maybe it will be easier for you to start with more advanced spells and then, when you've gotten used to working with a wand, you can try the simple ones?", I suggested and Kol frowned, he seemed to think about it for a moment, then he started grinning.

"That could actually work! At least it's worth a try. Tomorrow after breakfast I will go to Flitwick and-", he started excitedly, but Fred interrupted him.

"Yeah, there is just one tiny problem: I don't think Flitwick will let you anywhere near his classroom again." "He did seem rather pissed after you left.", George explained and the smirk on Kol's face vanished.

"Maybe you could ask another teacher to let you into their class? You would probably be good in Transfiguration or something.", I tried to cheer him up.

"Transfiguration? Isn't that the subject Minerva teaches?", Kol asked us, a bit unsure and then ginned amused. "Yeah, I'm sure Elijah can think of something to convince her to let me into her lessons.", he added, with a suggestive undertone and winked.

"Uhg! Don't ever suggest something like that! I will never get that image out of my head!", Ron exclaimed disgusted and shook his head violently. Yeah, whatever might be going on with Elijah and McGonagall, it might be best to not think about it.

"Okay, okay. I won't mention that again. Let's change the topic to something more interesting, shall we?", Kol chuckled and then turned towards me.

"I heard you gave my brother a bit of a hard time in todays lesson. How about you give us some tipps.", he winked at me and everyone turned to stare at me. Great. I had really hoped to be able to keep that a secret.

"Wait, what?! It was _y_ _ou_ who let the pixies into Elijah's classroom?!", Ron gaped at me, and I felt a blush creep up my neck and on my cheeks. The eyes of the twins lit up with excitement.

"Pixies? In Elijah's classroom?"

"That's genius Hermione! How did he react?"

"More importantly, where did you get them?", George asked me and I quickly shook my head. The last thing this school needed was a pixie invasion.

Now Harry seemed to overcome his shock.

"But why? I mean… it was funny and all, but it's… not really like you...", he trailed off, still confused and I sighed.

"I was testing a theory of Bill… He thinks Elijah isn't a squib, but a really powerful wizard and I wanted to trick him into using magic - " I started to explain, but was interrupted by Kol, who snorted loudly.

"Yeah, good luck with that.", he muttered and I stared at him. Why hadn't I though about that? Elijah wouldn't tell me anything, but I could just ask Kol! Why hadn't I done that earlier?!

"What do you mean by that? I won't be able to trick him, or he won't use magic because he can't?", I questioned Kol curiously, but he quickly raised his hands and interrupted me.

"Oh no, no, no. I won't tell you anything about my brother. He already warned me that he doesn't want anyone to know. And since I don't particularly fancy ending as a snack to the giant spider in the forest, I will keep Elijah's secret.", he refused and for a moment I was disappointed. But I hadn't really expected him to tell me and his answer gave away more than I had hoped for. Kol had confirmed that Elijah had a secret and I was on the way of finding out. And I would definitely find it out soon.

"Wait. You know about Aragog?", Harry was starring at Kol and only now I noticed it too. Kol put on an innocent expression.

"Aragog? Is that supposed to be the name? Are you friends with it too or something?! When the heck did that become socially acceptable? The last time I met an Acromantula-", he broke off in the middle of his sentence, staring blankly across the great hall, growing pale.

"Kol? Hey, Kol!", Fred waved his hand in front of Kol's face, who broke from his stupor and shook his head.

"Sorry, I just...", he looked up again, a thoughtful and serious expression on his face.

"Everything okay mate? You look like you just saw a ghost or something.", George asked him concerned, causing Kol to chuckle lightly. I finally turned my look away from Kol, following his gaze in the hope of finding the source of his strange behaviour. When I finally found it, I laughed too. George had hit the nail on the head. At the other end of the hall, the Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron had entered and were walking towards their house tables, in casual conversation with each other. Kol's eyes followed them transfixed.

"Have you never seen a ghost before? Listen, they might be a bit scary at first, but most of them are actually really nice.", I told him slowly, I still remembered my shook when I saw them on my first evening at Hogwarts. And I had already read about them in "A history of Hogwarts" by then.

Kol let out a loud snort.

"Oh don't worry sweetheart. I'm not scared of some flimsy ghosts, I spent the better part of the last two decades as one myself. Those two just… reminded me of the past...", he trailed off, his statement hanging in the air. I was staring at him fascinated. He had spoken so calmly, so casual as if talking about the weather, not his own death. But now that he had mentioned it I finally remembered what Elijah had told us after the lesson Umbridge had tried to inspect. His mother had come back from the dead at least once. And a young witch named Davina had taken 14 years to bring his little brother back from the dead. So he had been talking about Kol then? They had talked about Davina briefly at Christmas too. She was Kol's girlfriend. Now that made sense…

While I had contemplated all of that, Kol hadn't for a second taken his eyes off the two house ghosts. And finally, when the Bloody Baron turned away from the Grey Lady to walk to the Slytherin table, he seemed to notice Kol staring. I knew most of the ghosts sometimes liked the amazement of the new students, but the Bloody Baron obviously wasn't one of them. He stared right back at Kol, his look icy and there were lines of barely contained rage showing on his pale face. I shuddered. He really was the most scary one of the Hogwarts ghosts. Kol didn't seem to mind though. He returned the cold stare without blinking and then, slowly, the corners of his mouth twitched and an arrogant, challenging smirk appeared on his face.


	16. Conscience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caroline is feeling really guilty.

**Chapter 16: Conscience**

_Hogwarts – Monday, 13_ _th_ _of January, 1996_

_**Hermione:** _

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... kin to those who have thrice defied him, he will rise at the death of the seventh turn... the Dark Lord will consider him his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord does not... and either must die at the hands of the other, for one can't live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will rise at the death of the seventh turn..." Harry repeated and I stared at him, not completely sure what it all meant. Ron seemed to be even more confused.

"And where in all that babbling of Trelawney does it say that you have to kill You-Know-Who?" he asked critically and Harry continued with his explanation.

"I already told you, Dumbledore says it all describes me as the chosen one. My parents fought against Voldemort three times and I was born at the end of July." he said, but Ron still didn't seem convinced.

"Yeah but – I mean come on 'will rise at the death of the seventh turn', you really think that means 'will be born at the end of July'? And are we even sure this is a real prophecy? This is Trelawney we're talking about." he complained. While he did have a point, I personally believed things like that were just typical for prophecies. They weren't straight forward. They were ambiguous and confusing, so that at the end of the day, they fit the situation, no matter what happened.

I had more of a problem with another sentence. Did Lord Voldemort really consider Harry his equal? Though Harry had explained that that was what made Voldemort try to kill him when he was still a baby, I still wasn't really convinced. On the other hand, the only other candidate born at the end of July in that particular year was Neville Longbottom and I was quite positive, that Voldemort didn't see _him_ as an equal. So that only left Harry. _Unless_ … 'approaches' was a _very_ unspecific date. Especially in prophesies such things could mean in the next days or weeks, but also in the next decades. So maybe the chosen one wasn't even born yet? Or it could be any child born at the end of July in the last 14 years…

I sighed and decided to give up trying to find a loophole that could mean that Harry didn't have to be the one to kill Voldemort. That was stupid. Dumbledore was convinced he understood what the prophecy meant and we would just have to trust him on that one. I mean, when was Dumbledore ever wrong? But hell, I really wished someone else would get rid of Voldemort. I didn't want anything to happen to Harry!

"So what now? No offence Harry, but how are you supposed to kill You-Know-Who? Can he even die?" Ron threw in his opinion, which for a change actually was a really good question. Could Voldemort die? Logically there shouldn't be anything that couldn't die, but he had survived when everyone had believed him to be dead… so how could Harry kill him? I shuddered at the thought. It was just wrong to imagine Harry killing anyone. Even if it was Voldemort, Harry could never do that, he was just too good of a person to ever even consider using a killing curse. And if he did, it would probably destroy him.

"Dumbledore wants to give me lessons. I don't know what exactly we're going to do there… Today we only watched one of his memories of a kid Tom Riddle… He said it's important for me to understand him, to be able to defeat him…"

* * *

_Wiltshire, England – Monday, 13_ _th_ _of January, 1996_

_**Caroline:** _

_Dear Bonnie,_

_Christmas in Austria was really great; you wouldn't believe how much snow there is here! We first spent some time in Vienna and are now in Salzburg. Klaus compelled some people so we could live in the castle during our time here and it's fantastic! I hope you like the vampire and witch shaped cookie cutters, I got them from the "Christkindlmarkt" here._

_Tomorrow we'll go to a little cabin in the Alps to go skiing for a few weeks before we continue our sight-seeing tour to Munich._

_I hope you and Damon are well, I really miss you guys. Don't worry too much about Stefan, he's probably just on some holiday with his girlfriend and that's why he doesn't answer Damon's calls._

_Love Caroline_

I put the pen away and put a post stamp on the card. I hoped Bonnie wouldn't notice that the price on it was in pounds and not euros, but so far it had worked. The Fortress of Salzburg on the front of the postcard would hopefully convince her, that I was indeed staying in Austria, still happily traveling with Klaus.

I sighed and looked up, staring at the gigantic picture of the squirrel and the unicorn. I hated lying to my friends, but it was better this way. I didn't want them to worry. Besides, what was I supposed to tell Bonnie? That Klaus was now working with an evil wizard, who wanted to gain control over Britain and then possibly the whole world – and I was just staying with Klaus, doing nothing to stop him?

I should have left ages ago. Hell, I never should have agreed to come here in the first place. I could have found a way to take Klaus' mind off his daughter, to make him stop worrying. Maybe we even would have managed to be happy.

But even though I hated it here and thought about leaving every day, I just couldn't bring myself to go through with it. Klaus and Stefan needed me here, now more than ever.

The murder of his girlfriend had made Stefan spiral out of control again. He was back to being a ripper and I was all on my own in trying to get him back to normal this time. Klaus saw not the slightest problem with it because now Stefan had no problem doing everything Klaus wanted him to do. Maybe I could still convince Klaus to help me get Stefan back on track – he could just compel him or something – but I was hesitant to do so. Stefan had been so broken when he came to us, and while I hated him killing all those innocent people, he seemed kind of okay right now. I shuddered at my thoughts. When had I turned so cold? When did the slaughter of countless people suddenly seem okay, as long as it kept my friend happy?

But then again, did it really matter who killed those people? Voldemort and Klaus wanted to spread terror and chaos and even if Stefan wouldn't kill anyone, the people would still end up dead. Each day, there were new Death Eaters, vampires, werewolves and god knows what kind of other monsters joining "our" side. I took a shaky breath and tried to keep back the tears that threatened to spill when I thought about it. What had I gotten myself into?! _Come on Caroline, you can't give up now, you can do much more good here, than anywhere else! Isn't that why you're staying?_ I mentally scolded myself. Right. Somehow what I was doing felt so important. As if it mattered, when Klaus spared one person because I asked him to. As if that didn't pale in comparison.

But I couldn't let myself think like that. I couldn't let myself give up and leave, because I was the only one that kept Klaus sane. And when a calculating, clear thinking Klaus was doing all those terrible things, I shuddered to think what he would do if I left him. He would feel betrayed and let his anger out on anyone stupid enough to cross his path.

Not that he was completely okay right now. Lord Creepyface was rubbing off on him and Klaus became more paranoid and unpredictable every day. Klaus had always had a tendency to blame other people for his mistakes and now with Creepyface's example that had only gotten worse. Last week it had come to another high. He had found out that another of his and Lord Creepyface's experiments to create hybrids had failed, and instead of trying again or giving up like normal people would, he had ripped off the head of our loyal –and completely innocent – maid. We had had a major row after that!

But speaking of failed hybrid experiments! I jumped up, only now realizing the time. I only had 20 minutes left until Klaus and Creepyface would be back! Leaving the postcard on the couch table, I quickly rushed into the kitchen.

xxx

"Ah, Miss Caroline, how are you on this lovely day? I was just telling these folks about the giant squid in the lake at Hogwarts. Can you believe that anyone doesn't know about it? But what can you expect from a bunch of uneducated cooks." Quentin Trimble greeted me when I entered the kitchen. The cooks, whose portrait he was visiting, seemed to be as thrilled by his presence as I was. Absolutely not. Now how was I going to get rid of this chatterbox? Normally I didn't really care about him annoying everyone with his stories, but right now, I couldn't afford anyone watching me too closely. In a flash of genius, I put on the apron our house-elf Martha liked to wear while cooking.

"Oh really? There is a giant squid at Hogwarts?" I asked him with faked astonishment and Quentin glared at me, appropriately offended. He had already told me the story at least 7 times.

I grabbed the cabbage and the spinach from the fridge and set them on the counter. Then I started cutting both in pieces.

"How did it get there? That must be a really interesting story!" I asked him excitedly and as predicted, he seemed placated and started telling his favorite story again, thankfully not suspicious at all. If he thought I wanted to get rid of him, he would never leave. I had learned that the hard way.

While he was talking, I put on a cheerful face, trying not to think about what I was going to do with the smoothie once it was finished. I put a third of the cabbage and spinach in the mixer, added a bit of beetroot juice and "accidentally" didn't put the top on properly. Then I pressed the start button. Luckily I had calculated correctly, and there were not enough vegetables in it to splash all over the kitchen. It was just enough to hit the picture that was hanging behind the counter.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!" I exclaimed loudly, when Quentin Trimble sputtered, hands grabbing thin air, as he tried to find anything to wipe his face with. "Wait, let me help!" I took a paper towel and bent towards the picture, slowly moving my hand forward. If he hated anything more than being dirty, it was being touched.

"No! Don't! Didn't they teach you any manners in America?!" he screamed indignantly and then sprinted out of the portrait before I could wipe his face clean. Mission accomplished!

xxx

When the smoothie was finished I looked at it critically. It looked absolutely disgusting, with its dirty brown color and its slimy texture and had little pieces of cabbage swimming in it. Perfect!

I quickly took a look around to make sure none of the pictures were watching, before I got the tiny bottle of werewolf venom out of my pocket and poured the content into the mixture. The bottle was one of the last of a small supply I had got from a very gullible werewolf some weeks ago and which I kept a secret from everyone.

I stirred the smoothie a few times and poured it in 3 glasses on a little tray. Then I hurried to the stairs that led down to the cellar. I didn't have to wait long, until our new maid showed up carrying an identical tray of glasses filled with a disgusting liquid. She smiled confused when she noticed me.

"Miss Caroline? Do you need something?" she asked carefully and her eyes widened with fear when she noticed the tray I was carrying. "I-I thought I was … I was supposed t-to bring t-the potions to the p-p-prisoners! I messed up again, d-didn't I? I'm… I'm so, so sorry!" she stammered, starting to shake slightly. Again I cursed Klaus for ripping Theresa's head off… at least she hadn't been scared of us. I quickly put a comforting hand on Felicity's shoulder.

"Hey, calm down. You did nothing wrong. Nobody is going to hurt you." I carefully put my hand under her chin and raised it a bit to be able to look deeply into her eyes, where I could already see the beginning of tears. When she finally stared back at me, I spoke again, feeling my pupils contracting, as I did so.

"You're going to forget that we had this conversation. You just picked up the potions from Narcissa and then went straight back here and down to the guards. Do you understand?" While talking, I carefully took the tray she was carrying from her weak grip and put my own into her hands. She nodded and a blank expression took hold of her face. I smiled at her encouragingly and watched her until the sturdy metal door at the foot of the stairs closed behind her. Klaus had been right when he insisted on also hiring a human housekeeper and not relying solely on the house-elf Narcissa got for us. At least humans could be compelled.

I sighed deeply and stared down on the three glasses of wolfsbane potion – mixed with dittany and powdered silver – that were supposed to heal the vampires in the cellar from the bite wounds Klaus had given them. It was another experiment Lord Creepyface had come up with in order to turn them into hybrids. I felt guilt tie my stomach in knots when I thought about Klaus and how I was destroying his dreams over and over again… I quickly shook my head, trying to get the thoughts out of my head. I _knew_ I was doing the right thing. Even though Klaus had promised to only use the hybrids – if they finally created some – to fight against Elijah, I didn't really believe that. Lord Creepyface would insist on them also helping to fight the Order of the Phoenix. And Creepyface with a hybrid army was a nightmare I didn't even want to think about. I shuddered and quickly banned that image from my head and went to the nearest bathroom to get rid of the potions.

xxx

Five minutes later I heard the two Death Eaters that were supposed to guard the vampires come up the stairs, arguing loudly.

"Believe me; we do not want to be here when the Dark Lord finds out this experiment failed as well. Or even worse, the hybrid!"

"But it wasn't our fault! We only did what we were supposed to do! Keep them in their cells and force them to drink the potions! It's Snape's fault if they don't work!"

"The Dark Lord won't care whose fault it was! Don't you remember what they did to Mullciber and Avery? Let's get out of here, before they come back!"

I kept hidden in the bathroom until I heard the front door open and close again and took a quick look out of the window to make sure they disapparated. Then I stepped out into the hallway and down the stairs. I took a deep breath and pushed the sound-proofed door open.

Behind it was our own convenient, in-house dungeon. I absolutely loathed it. I mean, seriously? Who in their right mind put a dungeon under a perfectly nice mansion?! Narcissa really had strange ideas sometimes. But even though I would really like to be able to say we never used it, Klaus had gotten really fond of it. Since our second week here – when Klaus and Mr. Noseless had started on the experiments – there have always been some prisoners down there.

I slowly went down the dark, cold corridor in the middle, passing empty cells on both sides until I finally found the one I was looking for. It was vampire proof, with heavy shackles on the back wall and through a little hole there was a steady flow of dispersed vervain to keep the vampires weak. I pushed a button next to one of the doors to stop the vervain and then opened the door.

The three vampires were all hanging limp in the shackles, eyes closed, faces pale and covered in sweat. Each of them had a big, festering bite wound at the neck. And none of them were breathing. Hesitantly I stepped into the room. I had to make sure they were dead. Determined I went to the first vampire and checked for any signs that he was only unconscious or changing. There were none. Good.

I quickly checked vampire number two and rushed over to the third one, wanting to get out of here as quickly as possible before Klaus came back. But when I raised the vampire's head to see if she was growing werewolf fangs or something of that sort, I froze. It was a muscular woman around forty, short blond hair was framing a kind face, which looked quite peaceful in death. She reminded me so much of my mother, it hit me like a punch to the guts and I couldn't breathe. At that moment I realized full force what I had done. This vampire – this woman – had had a life; maybe she had a husband, maybe children, maybe a daughter that would be heartbroken. Maybe she used to be a teacher, or a doctor, or maybe a sheriff in a small town… a town that needed her.

And now she was dead. Murdered. Not by Creepyface, who had given the order to kidnap her or by Stefan, who had turned her. Not by the Death Eaters, who had locked her into this dungeon and not even by Klaus, who had bitten her. The potions might have been able to save her – to turn her. She might have survived. But I had poisoned her with even more werewolf venom. I had made sure she and the other two vampires wouldn't survive. I had murdered three completely innocent people.

My knees started shaking from the immense guilt I was suddenly feeling and I leaned against the dungeon wall, sliding down slowly, until I was sitting on the floor next to the dead vampire woman. I wrapped my arms around my knees and hugged them tightly to my chest. Then I started to cry.

xxx

I don't know how long I sat there, wallowing in my guilt, sobs wrecking my body and tears streaming down my face, when I suddenly heard the door to the dungeon open and footsteps coming down the hallway. I desperately tried to calm myself down, but I just couldn't find the strength to stop crying or even just stand up from my position on the floor. Then I heard a concerned voice call out.

"Caroline? Are you down here?"

"Stefan?" My voice was dry and hoarse from crying, and it was probably only due to Stefan's vampire hearing that he picked it up at all. I looked up when the door to the cell was slowly pushed open and he stepped inside. When he saw my face he gasped.

"Caroline?! What happened?!" he asked me concerned and rushed to my side, sitting down next to me. Only thinking about it made me sick and instead of answering I just pressed my face against his shoulder and started sobbing again. Carefully he wrapped his arms around me.

xxx

When I had finally calmed down a bit, he tried again.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" he whispered softly and I took a deep breath before answering.

"We-We're… it's… it's just… I realized…" I stopped, my voice still shaking and took another calming breath. "Look at us, Stefan! We're monsters! Not just literally, figuratively as well! You, me, Klaus… all of us! We're all monstrous beasts who kidnap and torture and kill helpless people!" I got louder as I spoke, enraged by my own actions and willing Stefan to see my point. He looked confused for a moment and I made a general gesture towards the dead vampires. He only now seemed to really notice them.

"Oh." He looked at them critically for a short moment. "I guess this experiment didn't work out either." he stated casually and turned back to me. When he noticed my expression, he sighed.

"I'm sorry Caroline. I know you don't agree with Klaus and are against us trying to make hybrids." His apology was sincere. I could hear the guilt in his voice. "And if you think Klaus is a monster for doing this, if you think I'm a monster for helping him – I really can't blame you. But Caroline, _none_ of this is _your_ fault. _You_ are not a monster." he added tenderly, trying to reassure me. "Please don't blame yourself. There is nothing you could have done to save them."

For a moment I was tempted to believe him. Was it really my fault? Wouldn't they have died anyway? Not even the guy with the large nose and greasy hair was sure those potions would work, and he was the one who made them! And even if there had been a chance for them to survive the transition, wasn't it kinder to kill them before they became slaves in Klaus's sired hybrid army? Forced to fight for Klaus, forced to kill for Klaus. Forced to do whatever he asked.

I had seen how Tyler had suffered. How much he had hated it. And back then it had been only Klaus, relatively harmless, enjoying life in Mystic Falls. There had been no war, no "Dark Lord", who tortured and killed just for fun. And Klaus hadn't been driven by a blind lust for revenge on Elijah.

Hadn't I saved many more people by killing these few vampires before they could turn into killers? What were the lives of three vampires against the hundreds that would be wiped out if Klaus and Lord Creepyface got an army of hybrids?

But however much I was trying, I couldn't fully convince myself that I had done the right thing. A not so quiet voice – the voice that also reminded me that I had done this many times already, to other "experiments" – that voice kept telling me that there had to be another way. Next time I had to take the risk to free them, to save them instead of using werewolf venom that conveniently left no traces. And if Klaus got suspicious and found out… well, I would deal with this problem when it came up.

I was ripped out of my thoughts when I heard footsteps in the hallway again. This time it was more than just one person. They seemed to have noticed the missing guards.

"Wormtail, where are the guards?" I heard the icy, unhuman voice of Lord Creepyface.

"I-I-I… I don't know, my lord… Crabbe and Macnair should be here…" The footsteps stopped in front of the nearly closed dungeon door and I could hear a scared whimper.

Quickly I wiped my eyes, but new tears appeared almost instantly. I weakly tried to rise, but I was too exhausted from all the emotions and the crying, so I stayed where I was, sitting on the floor, Stefan's arm still wrapped around me.

The door was opened and Lord Creepyface entered. His cold eyes took in the room critically. His gaze wandered from me and Stefan to the dead vampires on the wall and back to us again. This time his face was contorted with rage and as he stared at us his eyes flashed red for a moment. Then he opened his mouth, hissing furiously. "What did you do?"

* * *

_Hogwarts – Monday, 13th of January, 1996_

_**Hermione:** _

I jumped, startled, and nearly dropped my Arithmancy text book, when Harry suddenly sat up with a short cry, from where he had fallen asleep in the armchair next to me. He was clutching his forehead, rubbing desperately.

"Harry, what happened?" Ron asked him concerned and Harry stared at us with wide eyes.

"Voldemort has Stefan and his girlfriend!" he told us, a bit out of breath.

"WHAT?! Are you sure Harry?" I threw my book on the table and turned to him.

"I'm sure. It was... I was in Voldemort's head again… and he… at first he was really excited, going down some hallway in a dungeon or something… and then he went into one of the cells… There were people shackled to the wall… I'm not sure, but I think they were dead. And then there was Stefan, sitting on the ground, trying to comfort a crying girl." he explained rushed, rubbing his scar absentmindedly. Ron stared at him.

"So what do we do now?"

"I don't know… I don't even know where they were or…" I stood up quickly, interrupting him before he could suggest some harebrained stunt that would get all of us killed.

"Harry, we have to tell Dumbledore! Now! He will know how to get them out of there."

xxx

"Potter! Granger! Weasley! What are you doing out of your beds at this time of night!" a sharp voice stopped us when we rounded the corner to Dumbledore's office and we turned around.

"Professor McGonagall, we were going to see the headmaster. Harry had a vision about Voldemort." Ron flinched a little at the name and McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "He has Stefan and his girlfriend. They are locked in a dungeon." I explained quickly.

"Stefan? The vampire Elijah invited at Halloween? Are they in acute danger right now, Mr. Potter?" she questioned him and Harry nodded. "I think so. The other three people in the room were already dead. And Voldemort was really angry. That's what woke me up."

"Professor, we have to do something to rescue them." I looked at her pleadingly and she nodded determined.

"Of course Miss Granger. Professor Dumbledore is not here at the moment, I'm afraid. He's visiting an old colleague. But we can try to contact him. But first… Expecto Patronum." A silvery cat broke out of her wand and then looked at her interestedly.

"I have a message for Elijah and Severus. They should come to the headmaster's office immediately."

When the cat had vanished around the corner, McGonagall turned back to us.

"Well then, follow me!"

"Professor? Didn't you say Dumbledore isn't here right now?" I asked her confused and she threw a short look at me. "The headmaster's chimney is the only one the ministry doesn't spy on. Well, I suppose they did at least try… but it is protected by very old magic, so they wouldn't get very far.", she explained and I was tempted to inquire more about this magic, but decided there were more important things right now.

We followed Professor McGonagall up the stairs and entered the headmaster's study. I looked around interestedly. There were a lot of magical objects buzzing on tables and on a big desk in the middle of the room. On the walls were the portraits of all the former headmasters. Some were sleeping, some were looking at us interestedly and one was unsuccessfully trying to use a cleaning spell on big dirty brown stains on his clothes, muttering irritatedly and complaining to the neighboring portrait about the bad manners of vampires. In the back of the room Fawkes was sitting on his perch.

While Ron and I had stared around the room in amazement, McGonagall had grabbed some floo powder and was now kneeing on the floor in front of the fireplace, head in the green flames. Curiously I could still hear her voice, though it was very low and sounded as if someone was shouting across a Quidditch field.

"Good evening, Horace. I'm afraid I will have to interrupt your evening. Could you please tell Albus his presence is required at Hogwarts? There is an emergency." She pulled her head out of the fire and took a few steps back and looked at us.

"Sit down, please. Do you want lemon drops? I'm sure Albus has some here somewhere…" she offered and we stared at her. Who was thinking about lemon drops right now?!

"Mr. Potter, are you alright? Should I call Madam Pomfrey?" she asked concerned once we were all seated. Harry was still rubbing the scar and had a pained expression on his face.

"No, thank you, I'm fine."

"Promise me you will visit Madam Pomfrey before you go back to bed, though. Maybe a bit of dreamless sleep would be a good idea." she added.

"Go back to bed? But Professor, what about Stefan?!" Harry asked, more shocked than he should be. Did he really think they would let us come on the rescue mission?

Professor McGonagall sighed. "Yes, Mr. Potter. You will tell us what happened, and then the three of you will go back to bed. I assure you between the headmaster, Prof Snape, Prof Mikaelson and me, we are more than capable of saving them without the help of three teenagers." she told him briskly and Harry was just opening his mouth to protest further, when the fire flared green.

Dumbledore stepped out of the fire place, placed a small vial with a silvery liquid in a cabinet at the back and then quickly turned to us, his expression concerned.

"Horace told me you said it was an emergency. What -", he was interrupted by a short knock and then the door was opened. Elijah and Snape entered the room. Snape looked as though he had already been asleep, his slightly greasy hair was disheveled and his robe was crumpled and when he saw Harry, Ron and me sitting in the office, his expression grew even darker than it was before. Elijah on the other hand was dressed immaculately as always. The second he entered the room his gaze fixed upon me, concerned. Only when he apparently saw that I was fine did he relax slightly and turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Minerva, what happened?"

"Mr Potter seems to have had a vision of You-Know-" she was interrupted by Harry.

"He has kidnapped Stefan and his girlfriend!" he blurted out quickly and Snape snorted. Elijah and Dumbledore seemed critical, too. But I couldn't help notice that the three of them relaxed slightly.

"I seriously doubt that Mr Potter." Snape sneered and I saw Harry clenching his fists.

"I saw them okay? They were sitting in a dungeon and Voldemort was there! If you don't believe me y-" he started angrily, but Snape interfered.

"So we are here because you had a nightmare? Touching, Potter. But I can assure you Stefan Salvatore is not in any kind of danger from the Dark Lord, as he is there completely willingly." Snape told him calmly.

"WHAT?! What are you talking about?" I was shocked. I quickly looked around the room. Dumbledore's expression was sad, but not surprised in the least. Neither was Elijah. That's why they were so relaxed.

McGonagall on the other hand seemed furious. "Stefan is working for You-Know-Who? And you all knew and didn't tell me?" she threw Dumbledore and Elijah an icy look.

"He is a vampire, Minerva. Of course he is working with Klaus." Snape added, as if this should have been obvious.

"But he was such a polite and gentle young man. And he is friends with Elijah, so why would he suddenly turn against us?" she asked shocked and Snape snorted again.

"I think those days are over. Believe me; I saw what he is capable of. The death of his girlfriend must have hit him hard." Snape answered smugly and turned towards Elijah challengingly. "Don't you agree?"

For a short moment I could see something dark and dangerous flicker in Elijah's eyes, but then he smiled pleasantly and turned to look at where McGonagall and I were sitting. "He and…" he hesitated for a moment. "He and _Klaus_ , go back a long time. They've been friends since the 20s." he explained.

There was silence in the room. Even Dumbledore seemed to be surprised by this bit of information. It was hard to imagine a kind person like Stefan being friends with Klaus… Of course I didn't know much about Klaus, but I never thought about him as someone who would care about other people. I had imagined him as a heartless monster, a bit like Voldemort…

"But… But… What about the girl? I mean… you said Stefan's girlfriend is dead, but there was a girl there in that dungeon with him and she was crying in his arms… Even if Stefan is safe, that girl is still in danger…" Harry said thoughtfully, when we had taken in Elijah's statement.

"A blond girl, curly hair, looks like she is around 17 years old?" Elijah inquired calmly. Did he know her?

Dumbledore looked at Elijah questioningly at that. Harry seemed to be just as confused. "Yes, that was her, do you know who she is?"

Instead of Elijah, Snape answered. "That has to be Caroline, Klaus's vampire girlfriend. Pretty, but doesn't seem to be very clever", he stated dryly, more as an answer to Dumbledore's raised eyebrow than to Harry.

"Do not underestimate her, Severus. She and her friends managed to kill two of my brothers. But her greatest power is that she has ... Klaus wrapped around her little finger." Elijah warned him. Again he seemed to stumble on Klaus's name. He had to have some really bad memories about him, if he had problems with even saying his name… Well, nobody could really blame him. Most wizards wouldn't even pronounce Voldemort's name after he had been dead for years.

Then what Elijah had said caught up to me. "Wait, did… did she kill Kol?" I asked him curiously. Elijah raised his eyebrows.

"He told you about being dead?" he asked, then shrugged. "It never was her personally… She only ever acted as a distraction. But I suppose Kol still isn't exactly fond of her.", Elijah explained.

"While this is all very interesting, now that we established that there is no emergency, I propose these three should go back to bed." Professor McGonagall interrupted. Apparently not wanting us to know too much. We had found out a lot this evening.

"Just one more thing first, Potter. You said they were in a dungeon? Did you see anyone else in there? Like three people shackled to a wall?" Snape stopped us, when we were standing up to leave and Harry stared at him.

"How do you know that?" Snape only sneered in response to Harry's suspicion.

"You already know that I am a spy, Potter. Use your brain if you have one! I want to know what happened to the people, are they dead?"

Harry only nodded. "I-I think so."

Snape's expression was unreadable and Harry started to open his mouth again to question him further, but McGonagall interrupted him.

"Severus, was that all? Then come on you three, I will accompany you to the common room." she told us sternly and we obediently rose to our feet and left the room with McGonagall, Elijah following us. Snape was staying behind and I noticed Harry throwing a curious look back. What were they still talking about? As the stair was moving down, I closed my eyes, concentrating hard, straining to catch at least a whisper of them through the closed door.

"Are you going to be alright, Severus?" I heard the very low voice of Dumbledore.

"I think so, headmaster. He still doesn't suspect anything yet. But I do not know how long I can continue. Sooner or later he will find out that I'm manipulating the potions and if that happens…"

"I know. We will have to think of another way. But we can't let him succeed. If he gets that army-" we arrived at the foot of the stairs and the voices had become too low to follow. I sighed. I didn't have any idea what they were talking about.

A quick visit to Madam Pomfrey, and 10 minutes later we were back in the common room. Harry immediately went up to bed, the sleeping potion slowly taking effect and Ron followed him up. But I was still way too excited to go to be able to sleep now, so I sat down in front of the fire, picking my Arithmancy book back up.

I quickly realized I couldn't concentrate on schoolwork either. My thoughts were still with Stefan, remembering the nice, smiling vampire, who had teased me about pumpkin juice. How could he have joined Klaus? It just didn't make much sense.

But then again, I also remembered the loving look in his eyes when he had told me about his girlfriend Yasmin. He was probably grieving. And if he was friends with Klaus before, it only made sense that he would turn to him after such a loss. I felt bad for him, wishing there was something I could do. To make him feel better and maybe convince him that working with Klaus wouldn't solve anything.

I sighed and pulled a fresh piece of parchment towards me and started writing.

_Dear Stefan,_

* * *

_Wiltshire, England – Tuesday, 14th of January, 1996_

_**Caroline:** _

I woke to the delicious smell of coffee and blood and a soft hand carefully trailing through my hair. Slowly I opened my eyes and looked right at Klaus, who lay propped up on his elbow next to me in the bed. He smiled lovingly at me.

"Good morning, love." he kissed me softly, then he looked a bit concerned. "Are you feeling better?" he asked carefully and I smiled at him reassuringly.

"Yes, don't worry too much… I was just really stressed because of this stupid party I'm helping Narcissa plan and then when I watched the vampires die I guess it just was too much." I lied smoothly, again feeling a pang of guilt. Especially because he was so lovely and concerned right now. It was so much easier to betray him when he was ripping off heads.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I should have been here when Tom came back… I know he scared you." he apologized and I shook my head.

"You came before anything could happen, that's all that counts." I tried to reassure him and kissed him again, trying not to think too much about yesterday. Creepyface had already raised his wand to curse me, when Klaus suddenly appeared, and stopped him. Of course he had been angry about the dead vampires too, but I had successfully convinced him that I had only gone down to inquire, after I saw the guards leave. And that when I had come down there, the vampires were dying and I had tried to save them, but didn't manage. After that he had just picked me up and carried me to bed, leaving the Death Eaters to deal with Creepyface's rage.

I sat up in the bed and Klaus put the breakfast tray Martha had brought up on our laps. While I was sipping on the blood bag, Klaus started talking again.

"You know, I started thinking yesterday. And I realized that all we have done since we came to England is stay here in this house. And I spend more time with Tom and his Death Eaters than with you. And I'm really sorry. If I had paid closer attention I would have noticed you were so stressed. So I already told Narcissa she would have to plan her party alone today and we will go and spend the day together at London, okay? I want to show you something."

xxx

"A pub, Klaus? Seriously? We're in London; we could visit the Big Ben, or the Tower or the London Eye. We could probably even compel someone to get an audience with the queen. But you want to go drinking in a pub. And it's not even a nice one either!" I complained looking at the shabby pub before us. He only smirked.

"Patience is a virtue, Caroline. Wait and see!" he told me and grinned. Then he opened the door to the pub and we entered.

My mood sank instantly even further. I had been really excited about a nice day without any wizards, witches, talking portraits and _magic._ And here we were in what apparently was a pub for wizards. There were people with funny hats and colorful robes all over the place, drinking, eating, and talking. I _hated_ wizards!

Klaus had noticed my distaste and smirked amused. "You know, I realized that in the two months we've been here, you've only ever met Tom and his Death Eaters. And they are not really the nicest kind of wizards." he told me, while leading me through the pub towards a backdoor.

"But the magical world here in Britain is beautiful and there are a lot of really interesting people and things." We had arrived in the backyard and now stood in front of a sturdy brick wall. What the hell would we do here? I looked around. Here was nothing. Only a few rubbish cans…

I turned back to Klaus and noticed he had taken out a wand.

"Where did you get that?!" I asked him surprised. And more importantly: what did he want with it? Vampire's couldn't do magic!

He grinned mischievously. "I scared Wormtail into giving it to me." Now he was looking at the wall and seemed to be counting something.

"Anyway, love, I thought you might like to see some of the wonders the magical world has to offer." While saying this, he used the wand to tap on one of the brick stones of the wall and suddenly it started moving, the stones moving around and forming an opening in the wall.

Behind it was a busy street full of people and little shops and stores. All of them seemed to be magical. It seemed nice. And I could definitely do with some shopping! I smiled when Klaus took my hand and we stepped through the passageway together.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley, Caroline."


	17. Broken Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione and Kol talk and bond.

** Chapter 17: Broken Hearts **

_Hogwarts – Monday, 27 th of January 1996_

**_Hermione:_ **

“So… what exactly would happen if someone used this spell on a living person? Would they reappear somewhere else or would they be invisible or would they be gone for real?" Kol asked Professor McGonagall curiously. Meanwhile I still hadn’t managed to vanish the kitten sitting in my lap. I shook my head, sitting next to Kol was really frustrating!

“Mr. Mikaelson, I would advise you strongly not to use this spell on a person. Experimenting on humans is quite illegal, _as I've already told you twice today_." McGonagall answered exasperatedly, making her way over to us. Having to put up with Kol the whole day had to be quite exhausting. After I had discussed it with him, he decided to try and see if I was right and joined in on some of Fred and George’s Transfiguration lessons. It went well and soon he was determined to learn as many spells as possible. McGonagall was the only teacher who actually let him into her classroom, so he started following her to every lesson.

“Of course. But surely _someone_ must've tried? I can't be the only one with horribly annoying siblings!" Kol continued interestedly, apparently not caring much about wizarding law.

“Maybe you should first try to use this spell correctly before contemplating its finer details." McGonagall replied amused when she came to a stop in front of me and Kol.

“Ah come on, Minny, I would say I was pretty close. The cat is gone, isn’t it?" he smirked and McGonagall raised her eyebrow, both at the nickname and the statement.

“Yes, it is. But so are your desk, your shoes and your socks." she reminded him and he shrugged with a grin.

“Okay, okay, I promise I will stick with just turning my family into animals for the time being!” he chuckled and McGonagall smiled.

“I’m afraid with your siblings, even a simple Transfiguration would already be a real challenge. I'm not even sure it would work at all." she told him, frowning slightly as she considered it. Kol pouted, but then a mischievous look appeared on his face.

“What a shame. I’m sure Elijah would have made quite a handsome cat. Just think of all the possibilities!" he chuckled and winked suggestively, giving McGonagall a coughing fit. When she recovered, there was a blush on her cheeks and she glared at Kol.

“Kol Mikaelson, I swear, one of these days I _will_ finally kick you out of my classroom." she told him sternly, but her eyes looked more amused than angry as Kol grinned sweetly at her.

“Oh come on Minerva, then I would have to start annoying Elijah to pass my time. And we don’t really want him to start stress-eating, do we?" he chuckled and McGonagall shook her head, let out an exasperated sigh and quickly walked to Neville and his loudly meowing cat.

Kol turned to me, still smiling. “I'm starting to understand why she gets along so well with my brother. They are both really entertaining when you annoy them." he chuckled and I shook my head amused.

“Seriously, Kol, give her a break. Or she really will kick you out." I told him and he shrugged.

“Yeah, well, this was the last lesson of the day anyway. I’ll go get some new shoes. See you at dinner! And good luck with your cat." he smiled and I watched as he strolled barefoot out of the classroom.

xxx

_Dear Hermione,_

_I'm very happy that Stefan seems to have found such a sweet friend like you. He is still grieving Jasmin's death and doesn't answer any letters or phone calls at the moment. I’m sorry, but I'm sure he will get back to you once he's feeling up to it._

_However, I can tell you right now, that you can stop worrying about his safety. Neither Klaus nor I plan on harming him or forcing him into anything. He's one of our best friends and came here on his own will. We didn't manipulate him in any way and we never would have even asked him to join this fight. I promise you, we will look after him and make sure he's safe. Klaus would never let anyone hurt him._

_I also want to warn you: Stefan has a very dangerous enemy who threatened to kill everyone Stefan cares about (he was the one who murdered Jasmin). Stefan asked most of his friends to leave the country and maybe it would be a good idea for you to do this as well. At the very least, you should not write any more letters to him, so you don't draw attention to yourself. And please LEAVE HOGWARTS IMMEDIATELY! That is probably the most dangerous place for you to be right now._

_I know you think I'm evil and do not trust me, but_ please, please, please _listen to me. I'm only trying to keep you safe. You seem like a nice girl and I don't want you to be hurt in the coming war._

_Take care!  Caroline_

I stared at the letter. I didn't know what I had suspected when I wrote Stefan after Harry's vision. I had tried to cheer him up, offered my help if he needed anything and warned him not to trust Klaus and Caroline. I didn't even consider the possibility of someone else reading the letter, let alone to write back. A whirlwind of emotions rushed through me.

Firstly, there was confusion. I didn't get it. From Snape and Elijah's description I had imagined Caroline as a really evil, manipulative bitch, someone who tried to get power by manipulating Klaus. From her letter however, she seemed like a nice enough woman, and apparently really cared about Stefan. Why had she even replied? What did she get out of this?

Then there was the mistrust and fear. Whatever her motives for writing to me might be, they couldn't really be good. Her warning was probably a trick to try and get me to leave Hogwarts. At that moment it hit me that I was a target for Klaus and Voldemort. That was a frightening thought. I didn't want to imagine what they would do if they caught me. Of course that sort of made sense. I _was_ one of Harry Potter's best friends. And now, stupidly, I had definitely drawn their attention to me by writing this letter. What had I been thinking? Then again, if they wanted to set a trap for me, why didn't they have Stefan reply? Maybe he didn't want to be involved... Did he know what they were doing?

Of course there was also still my concern for Stefan. If Caroline hadn’t lied about that powerful enemy of his, it sounded that he was in a lot of danger. How was it? Who had murdered Jasmin and then threatened Stefan? What did he want from Stefan? Maybe this was why Stefan had joined Klaus – because he thought Klaus would be able to protect him? Either Jasmin’s death had messed with Stefan’s head, that he turned to one of the most evil people on this earth for protection or – and this was a terrifying thought to consider – his enemy was indeed so powerful that only Klaus stood a chance against him? A feeling of dread settled in my stomach. Was I really in danger too? I had only met Stefan once!

Most of all though, there was anger. Anger that this woman had the audacity to read the letter I had written to Stefan. Anger that she was so bold to actually write back. Anger at all her false assurances that Stefan was fine – obviously he was not, if he couldn't even reply to my letter! Anger at her comment that Stefan was her and Klaus's best friend and the implication that I had no right to question them. Worst of all though were all those sweet-worded lies about trying to keep me safe, when it was probably a plot to lure me out in order to capture me.

I felt the anger rush through me, my heart was racing and I was nearly ripping the letter apart with how hard I was gripping it. Then suddenly, I felt a wave of calmness sweep over me and my breathing became more even. For a moment I was confused, until I felt a warmness at my wrist. The bracelet was kicking in. Relieved I sank back into my armchair and closed my eyes.

When I opened them again my gaze fell on the letter again and a wave of anger swept through me again. _Arg. What was wrong with me?!_ I jumped up, grabbed the letter and without thinking much about it, I threw it into the fire. There was no way I would keep it.

As I watched it burn I felt the anger vanish again but it wasn't for long. It felt as if the bracelet was battling for control over my emotions but didn't really succeed. Surges of anger were alternating with waves of calmness. After five more minutes I couldn't take it anymore. I felt horribly sick, riled up and anxious. I looked around the common room, trying to find anyone to distract me, but none of my friends were here.

Harry's meeting with Dumbledore had ended early today. He had told us that the memory they had watched in the pensive had been manipulated and somehow they had to wait until Dumbledore got the real memory until they could continue. Harry had taken this opportunity to catch up with sleep and had gone to bed early.

Ron had gone for a walk around an hour ago and I couldn't see Fred and George anywhere, they were probably hanging out with Kol.

I stood up from my seat and quickly walked through the common room and out through the portrait hole. I still had half an hour until curfew and I really needed some fresh air.

xxx

I aimlessly wandered the halls for a few minutes, trying to regain control over my rapidly changing emotions. It didn't work and I stopped at a window, looking out over the castle grounds and up to the beautiful full moon. I stared at it for a moment, chuckling at the irony of the situation. Great, so my monthly mood swings also happened to coincide with a full moon. Which only proved that female hormones were nearly as bad as Lycanthropy. I shook my head. I really had to find out what was wrong with me. Why was I affected so strongly? Maybe I should go and visit Madam Pomfrey... there had to be a spell or potion that would get rid of PMS!

As I was gazing up at the moon, transfixed by its beauty, I felt my anger grow again and the bracelet got warmer and warmer. I quickly turned away from the window and took a deep breath. Maybe I should try to find Kol. Maybe he could adjust the spell on the bracelet a bit. It was obviously not working as well as it should. I sighed and walked down the hallway to the stairs.

Only a few minutes later I knocked on the door of one of the guest suites on the first floor. Dumbledore had given it to Kol for as long as he was staying here and Fred and George had visited him a few times, but I had never been inside.

I knocked again, this time louder, but still nobody answered. For a moment I contemplated going back to Gryffindor tower, but another rush of anger convinced me that I needed to talk to Kol right now. I would never be able to go to sleep like this. I knocked again and then slowly turned the doorknob. It was locked. Kol was probably still out with Fred and George. They still had a quarter of an hour until curfew. I sighed. I really should go back. I couldn't stay here in the hallway. The teachers and Filch would start their rounds soon and I had no idea if Kol would return on time. He wasn't a student and thus not bound to curfew anyway. Still, I really wanted to talk to him. I looked around and my eyes fell on the door of what I knew was an empty classroom. I could wait in there until I heard Kol return to his room.

I went over, but when I stood in front of the door I could hear low voices from inside. I frowned. What would anyone be doing in an empty classroom right now? Then I recognized Ron's voice.

Without thinking I opened the door, thrilled to have found someone who could distract me until Kol came back. When I entered the room though, I felt as if I had been punched in the stomach and my chest tightened painfully.

I had been right, Ron was in there, but so was Lavender Brown. The two of them had obviously decided that they could use their mouths for more than just talking. For a moment they didn't notice me and continued snogging and I felt as if my heart had just shattered on the floor.

Then they broke apart, Lavender opened her eyes again and stared directly at me. She let out a small scream of surprise and Ron turned around quickly, fumbling for his wand as he did so. Then he saw me.

"Her-Hermione?!" he sounded shocked, ashamed and alarmed and appeared to be struck for words. "What- what are you doing here?" he asked carefully and I could see the guilty expression in his face. I didn't care.

"WHAT AM _I_ DOING HERE?! WHAT ARE _YOU_ DOING HERE, RON?!" I screeched. The anger that had been bubbling inside of me the whole time came back full force and this time there was no wave of calmness sweeping it away. I felt utterly betrayed, hurt, and downright furious. Then Lavender spoke.

"Excuse me? What is your problem? _You_ _'re_ not his girlfriend, and if Ron wants to kiss _me, his girlfriend,_ he can do it whenever he wants to, without _your_ permission!" she sneered at me and I lost it. I wasn't thinking anymore, the raging fury had taken over and I was completely controlled by it. Ron seemed to have noticed it too.

"Hermione, calm down, let us talk about it..." he started but I interrupted him with an angry growl that sounded somewhat animalistic. I couldn't form coherent words anymore. Everything in me felt betrayed and my only wish was to hurt them as much as Ron just hurt me. To rip them into a thousand little pieces. Something in my face made Ron take a step back and he stared into my eyes, terrified. I didn't care anymore. I ripped out my wand.

"Av-", I started, not even sure who of them I was aiming for, everything was behind a red fog. Suddenly the bracelet burned hot and I was hit with a wave of calm, that left me disoriented and slightly dizzy but was just in time for me to get back a bit of sense and finish the spell.

"-is" I screamed, waving my wand and a flock of yellow birds erupted from its tip. Instantly they started to attack Ron and Lavender and the two of them cried out and fled from the classroom while trying to fend off the birds with their hands and arms.

I dropped my wand and sank to the ground. The anger was still there, but mostly I was in shock. What would I have done if the bracelet hadn't interfered? I shuddered as a wave of nausea overcame me and I quickly pushed the thought out of my head. No matter how much I was hurting and how angry I was, I knew with certainty that even without the bracelet I could never kill someone. And definitely not Ron or Lavender. I was just still shaken from watching them kiss.

Then came the tears and I started sobbing, hugging my knees to my chest. I always knew I wasn't as pretty as Lavender, I didn't spend hours on my hair, nails or make-up and I always knew Ron didn't see me as a "real girl". But after his jealousy at Victor I had let myself hope. Seeing him making out with Lavender now had hurt so much. I wiped a tear from my face and shakily stood up. I couldn't stay in this room if I wanted to calm down anytime soon. Everything in here reminded me of the scene I had just witnessed.

But where could I go? The Gryffindor common room was out of the question, I couldn't risk running into Ron or Lavender there, and the library already closed over an hour ago.

I slowly stepped out of the classroom, wiping my face again to get rid of the tears – not that it helped much as new ones followed instantly. I tried Kol's door once again, but it was still locked. So where could I-

Of course! Elijah! He had told me I could always come to him if I had a problem and right now I definitely had a problem.

xxx

I didn't have any luck at Elijah's door either. He didn't answer my knocks and the door was locked, too. I nearly broke down again. Where was I supposed to go now? I briefly thought about trying to see if he was visiting McGonagall, but quickly dropped the idea again. McGonagall wouldn't react too well if I told them about attacking Ron and Lavender and, even more importantly, I did _not_ want to find out if Kol's suggestive comments about them were true. I shuddered at the idea.

In the end I ended up in the portrait room on the third floor. I had visited it a few times to ask some of the portraits about first hand experiences for my history essays and it did have some quiet corners where I could hide until I had calmed down enough.

As I walked down an aisle of wizards of the 17th century, I heard someone let out a curse from somewhere at the far end of the room. It was followed by a faint muttering and when I strained my ears I could make out a familiar voice.

Distracted momentarily by my curiosity, I walked through the maze of walls with sleeping portraits to the hallway with the oldest wizards and there to the right, down a small aisle. Before I rounded the corner, I sniffed and wiped my face on my sleeve again. For a moment I thought about turning back and leaving, I wasn’t really in the mood to talk to anyone. Instead, I took a deep breath and stepped around the corner into a tiny, dimly lit aisle. There was only one portrait hanging at the far wall and a dark figure was standing in front of it. Tentatively I called out to him, so I wouldn't scare him.

"Kol?"

He spun around, surprised. "Hermione? What are you-", he sounded curious and a smile appeared on his face. Then I took a few steps forward and the light of a candle fell on my face and he abruptly stopped and a concerned look appeared on his face.

"Hermione! What happened?" he quickly walked the few steps to me and gently put his hand on my cheek, wiping away some new tears. "Are you – are you hurt?" he quickly looked me up and down, then his gaze settled on my face again. He frowned.

I only shook my head, then changed my mind and told him the truth. "I found Ron and Lavender kissing." my voice was barely more than a whisper. For a second Kol looked confused but then his eyes widened in understanding. He opened his mouth slightly, as if wanting to say something, but then closed it again.

"Listen love, I'm _really_ not the right person for this." he told me slowly and slightly fearful? He seemed to be completely out of his depth with the situation.

Instead of replying, I started sobbing. When he did nothing except stare at me with his best deer-caught-in-headlights-expression, I took another step forward, threw my arms around his neck and buried my face in his shoulder. I really needed the human contact right now.

Carefully, hesitantly he wrapped his arms around me and started patting my back awkwardly.

xxx

"It's just... did it really have to be Lavender? What does he see in her?" I sighed frustrated and Kol chuckled. We were seated next to each other on a comfortable sofa he had conjured up right there in the aisle of the portrait room and I had finally calmed down a bit.

"Want me to kill her for you?" he asked me casually, smirking at me, but there was something dark glinting in his eyes and an involuntary shiver ran down my spine. He sounded way too serious for my liking.

"Haha." I forced myself to chuckle lightly and he grinned.

"Just offering love. Tell me if you change your mind." He told me, still smirking. Was he actually serious? I shuddered and tried to shake the bad feeling out of my head. He was only joking to try and make me feel better. Of course he was.

"So, what did you do after you found them?" he asked me softly. I hesitated for a second but then realized that Kol would probably not judge me.

“I- uhm- I conjured a flock of bird to attack them.” I told him, blushing slightly but when Kol started laughing at that, I relaxed and chuckled with him. “You should have seen Lavender screaming and running from the room.” I grinned and Kol smirked at me.

“You definitely have to teach me that spell.” he replied with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Somehow I got the feeling he already had a specific, suit-wearing target in mind…

For a few moments we sat next to each other in comfortable silence, then I decided to broach the topic which had made me desperate to find him in the first place.

"Kol?"

"Yes?"

“I… It’s just… I don’t really… Is there a way to make the spell on the bracelet stronger?" I asked him tentatively. He frowned and looked at me critically.

“Is it not working properly?” he asked me confused and I frowned.

“Did you not listen? I attacked Ron and Lavender.” I reminded him and he only chuckled.

“Yeah, with a flock of birds. And you had a very good reason. I mean, if this had happened to Beks, she would have ripped both of their heads off.” he tried to reassure me. Beks? That was probably short for Rebekah. Somehow, however, the comparison with his vampire sister didn’t really make it seem that much better.

“Ok- but... I mean, the bracelet it… it’s definitely helping and all, but I actually tried to find you before I found them… I’ve felt riled up the whole day and then I got sooo angry because of a stupid letter…” I trailed off, when I saw understanding flash across his face.

"Right, I forgot. That time of month again?" he asked me and I blushed furiously. How did he figure that one out?!

"Ehm... Yeah... But er..." I mumbled uncomfortably, not really sure how to reply to this. He suddenly seemed to realize his mistake and his eyes widened.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean... Never mind." he quickly apologized and got back to the topic. “So was there any change you noticed compared to last time? I mean, did you feel strange or did the bracelet react somehow or something?” he asked me curiously, completely focused on the problem and I could see his eyes glint with interest. I was again reminded of what a brilliant wizard he was. When he was goofing around with Fred and George or messing up the spells in McGonagall’s class, I sometimes forgot that this was also the guy who would confidently create powerful magical objects with magic I had never even heard of.

“It did feel different. When I got angry, I felt the bracelet become warm and… it felt as if it was trying to calm me down, but somehow didn’t really manage to? It was as if something inside of me was fighting back?” I tried to describe the feeling as best as I could. “And then I just felt really dizzy and sick and sort of anxious.” Kol was silent for a moment, looking at the bracelet on my wrist and I could nearly see the wheels in his head turning. Then he looked back up at me and grinned confidently.

“I’m pretty sure the problem is that you’re a witch and your magical power is interfering with the spell. Elijah didn’t tell me that when he asked me to make the bracelet and the spell I used wasn’t invented for a witch, so I will have to find something to make it more efficient.” he explained as I listened fascinated. Then he grinned at me. “But don’t worry, I’ll look through some books in the library here, I’m sure I’ll find a solution there. And that might just be the excuse I need for Elijah and Dumbledore to let me into that exciting forbidden section.” he winked, grinning brightly and when I started chuckling at that, I felt the big, crushing weight being lifted from my chest.

xxx

"So... What exactly were _you_ doing here?" I asked him curiously. There weren’t many people who came here voluntarily. I still remembered the look of incredulity Ron and Harry gave me in our second year when I suggested coming here to improve our history essays. 

"I needed to talk to someone." Kol answered with a frown and I turned to see what portrait he had been talking too. When I realized which one it was I chuckled.

"Seriously, Kol? You want to talk to someone and you pick the _one_ broken portrait in the whole castle?" I asked him, still amused and he pouted slightly, but I seemed to have caught his interest.

"Broken portrait?"

"Yeah, it's even mentioned in _Hogwarts: A History_. Something must have gone wrong with the spell, or maybe it's just worn out, because the picture is so old. According to the book, the man in the painting has always had periods in which he seemed to be frozen just as if the spell hadn't been activated yet." I explained eagerly. Kol's interest was a nice change to Harry and Ron's usual annoyance whenever I told them fascinating facts about Hogwarts.

"What do you mean, 'as if the spell hadn't been activated yet'?" he asked me curiously.

"Well, normally the spell on the portrait activates with the death of the painted person. Until then, their portraits are frozen just like he is. Even though he has been dead for centuries." I clarified and Kol was staring at me fascinated. “The spell makes a tiny bit of the painted people’s conscience transfer into the portrait, but that obviously only works when they are dead or in a very, very deep coma.” I explained.

"So you think the spell is broken?" Kol chuckled lightly and turned back to look at the man in the portrait thoughtfully. "And here I was, thinking he was just trying to rile me up." he grinned.

"Yeah, I mean, as far as I know, the man has been frozen again since sometime last year... Before that the spell worked just fine for a few years." Kol frowned at that as if he just seemed to have realized something.

"February last year?" he asked and I nodded confused.

"Yeah, I think so, how did you know that?"

He just shook his head, his expression unreadable. "Just a guess."

He turned back to look at the picture again and I could see a smirk appear on his face.

Now I turned to look at the painting myself. The scenery was fantastic. It was painted a long time ago at a place where houses now stood in Hogsmead. Back then there was only a meadow with thousands of summer flowers and the castle of Hogwarts in the distance. It usually hosted a young couple. The girl was pretty and around seventeen, with curly dark hair, wearing a beautiful light-blue dress for the painting, but seemed to be visiting another portrait right now. The guy was a few years older than her, and he also had dark, wavy hair, that was bound together loosely at shoulder-heigh. He was frozen in the picture frame, but there was still a mischievous smirk on his lips and now that I looked at him more closely, there was something in his face that seemed familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. I turned back to Kol.

"Nobody is really sure who this couple is, that's why their picture is hanging here in the far corner. There are a lot of speculations though. Some sources say he is the monster –some kind of succubus of something – which terrorised Hogsmead and the muggle villages around it during the early 11th century and the girl is a young witch he charmed into helping him. Others speculate that she is actually Rowena Ravenclaw’s daughter and the guy is a foreigner she fell utterly in love with and in the end ran away with him." I told him as he seemed really infatuated with this painting. He turned his wistful gaze away from the picture and smirked at me.

"Why not both?" he asked, a glimmer in his eyes.

xxx

Our discussion about Kol’s theory, which was both outrageous and intriguing at the same time, was interrupted abruptly when we heard Filch's voice.

"What did you hear Mrs. Norris? Students out of their beds? Fine Mrs. Norris. Now show me, where are they?" he talked eagerly to his cat. I jumped up from the sofa in panic. It was _way_ after curfew.

“Kol! I need to get away before he sees me.” I whispered urgently and Kol immediately stood up from the sofa too, looking around for a way out, but the aisle we were in was a dead end and the only exit would take me straight into Filch’s arms. I looked at Kol in a panic. I was in no shape to deal with Filch right now. If he caught me, I would probably either break down crying again, or even worse, attack him…

Suddenly Kol’s frown lifted and a delighted grin spread across his face.

“We could just vanish him.” he shared his idea with me excitedly. Shocked, I stared at him. Surely he couldn’t mean that!

“Kol! No! We can’t just _vanish_ Filch! Didn’t you listen to McGonagall?! There is a good chance he will be gone for good. It could kill him!” I quickly reminded him.

“That’s exactly what this is about! We could kill two birds with one stone, get rid of Filch and find out what happens when you vanish a person!” he told me grinning. Meanwhile I could hear Filch’s quick footsteps getting louder. We didn’t have time for this!

“No, Kol! I won’t let you experiment on Filch! Now help me hide or something!” I told him resolutely and he pouted in response.

“Oh come on Hermione, who is going to miss him anyway?” he argued but I only shook my head.

“Okay, okay, love. You win.” he gave in. “Now how can we…” but it was too late. In this moment, Mrs. Norris rounded the corner, staring at us and meowing. Filch couldn’t be too far behind, I could already hear his excited breathing, he would appear at the end of the aisle any second.

Desperate, I turned to Kol again and saw his eyes light up mischievously.

“Get on the sofa and hold on.” he urged me. What crazy idea did he have now?! I couldn’t dwell on it too long, so when Kol sat down, I quickly followed his example and grabbed the armrest as if my life depended on it. Maybe it did.

Kol took out his wand then turned to look at me. His face beaming.

“Ready?” Ready for what?! But at this moment I could see Filch’s shadow appear at the corner, so I only nodded and Kol raised his wand.

“ _Evanesco_!” he shouted, waving his wand and suddenly the floor below us vanished with a small ‘bang’ and my stomach did a flip as the sofa fell down. I screamed.

Then the sofa’s feet crashed on the floor four meters farther down and the impact threw me out of my seat and I landed on the stone floor. For a second I felt dizzy, my heart was still racing like crazy in my chest. I quickly checked myself for any injuries, but the sofa had cushioned the impact and I felt perfectly fine. Then I heard Kol mutter “ _Reparo_ ” and sat up to look around. We seemed to have landed in an empty classroom on the second floor and with Kol’s spell, the hole in the ceiling above us closed again, leaving no way for Filch to see us. On my left was one of the broken wooden legs of the sofa and a few feet away Kol was sitting on the floor too, rubbing his shoulder which he probably landed on.

He turned to look at me sheepishly.

“Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?” he grinned and finally the endorphins from the fall kicked in and both of us started laughing.

xxx

After a few minutes spent giggling on the floor we finally calmed down again and I stood up, dusting the dust off my clothes.

“Kol, we should probably get away from here, I’m sure Filch will come looking for us.” I told him, still grinning and he nodded and rose from the floor too, turning to the broken sofa to turn it back into his watch.

“We should definitely do this again.” he chuckled.

“Yeah, but next time you could at least warn me what you are planning.” I replied with faked sternness and he grinned.

“Now where would be the fun in that? It just wouldn’t be the same without your terrified screaming.” he teased me and I huffed.

“Come on, we have to go find some place to hide before Filch gets here. I’m sure he is at the stairs already.” I quickly changed the topic to the problem at hand. We weren’t out of trouble yet. Well, _I_ wasn’t. Kol could wander the castle the whole night if he wanted to. Maybe this was the solution!

“We need to split up. If you cause a distraction, Filch will follow you, thinking you’re a student and I can try to get around him to get back to Gryffindor tower.” I shared my plan with Kol and he frowned.

“I really don’t think you should go back to the tower just now.” he stated and I felt my stomach drop at the thought of facing Ron or Lavender again. Then Kol started grinning again.

“This is the second floor, right?” he asked me excitedly and I quickly nodded. “Then I have a better idea.” He winked and when I only looked at him confused he waved to follow him.

We stepped out of the empty classroom, which was in the middle of the second-floor corridor. But instead of turning right, where the grand stairway was, Kol turned left and I stopped. We would only run into another dead end there! There was nothing at the end of the corridor besides a few empty classrooms, a toilet and – oh. Of course!

Quickly and as quietly as possible I hurried after Kol until we both stood in front of the heavy wooden door to Elijah’s office. For a second I contemplated if knocking was really such a great idea. He was a teacher after all, so if he found me now he really _should_ give me detention. For some reason though, I doubted that he would really do that… Besides, whatever he came up with would probably be much better than some horrible cleaning for Filch. And while I really didn’t want to have to deal with Filch right now, I had actually tried going to Elijah before finding Kol. He was definitely the better option.

Kol seemed to have noticed my concerns and smiled at me.

“Don’t worry, my brother isn’t here. He already left for some important, super-secret mission for Dumbledore.” he told me reassuringly. Elijah wasn’t here? But what were we doing here then? I quickly turned to our right, where I could already hear Filch’s footsteps in the distance again. Then Kol took out his wand and aimed it at the lock of the door.

“Kol! What are you doing?! We can’t just break into Elijah’s office!” I tried to stop him, but a quick _Alohomora_ opened the door and Kol pushed it open. When he saw me just staring at him and shaking my head disapprovingly, he sighed and grabbed my hand.

“Relax, Elijah never has to find out. And if he does, I will probably be the one who gets a lecture. I learned tuning them out ages ago, anyway.” He winked and then quickly pulled me into the room and closed the door behind us. Finally I relaxed a bit. Filch would never look for us here. No student in their right mind would be so bold to hide in a teacher’s office after curfew. Then again, Kol’s stunt with the sofa proved without any doubt that he was crazy. Plus Elijah was his brother after all, so it was different somehow.

Kol did some tiny gesture with his hand and the fireplace and all the candles in the room lit up. Then he walked over to the bar.

“What do you want to drink?” he asked me casually and I stared at him.

“Are you serious? We can’t just-“ I started to argue but he interrupted me.

“I’m sure Elijah won’t mind. At least he shouldn’t or he would be a horrible brother.” he grinned slightly. “We will have to stay here a while until Filch is done with searching every empty classroom on this floor, so we might as well make ourselves at home here. So what do you want to drink?”

I just shook my head, not really comfortable with raiding Elijah’s bar when he wasn’t here. I had been in his office sometimes and had always rather enjoyed it, but I had never been here alone. The curious and nosy side of me told me that this would be the perfect opportunity to find out some things about Elijah I had always wondered about. Like how many black suits did he really have? What did he store in the giant freezer box next to the bar? And of course any clues about that big secret he was trying to hide. But as Kol had already said that he would not tell me whatever it was he would probably not appreciate me snooping around. Besides, that would be a really disrespectful and wrong thing to do and I liked Elijah too much to ever actually do it.

So instead I sat down in one of the comfy armchairs in front of the fireplace. I looked up when Kol sat down in the other one and handed me a glass of white wine. Deciding not to argue about the drinks, I took the glass from him with a small smile. Kol raised his tumbler with what looked like whisky and smirked.

“To flying sofas.” He winked and I chuckled lightly before taking a sip of my wine. For a few moments we sat in silence, just relaxing after the rather eventful evening.

xxx

“So did you make any progress with finding that magical object Dumbledore has you looking for?” I asked him curiously. Kol frowned.

“Not really. I already searched most of the castle but if it is here I’m sure it is protected with some spells or something. Today I tried asking someone I think might know something for help… but that didn’t turn out too well.” he answered slowly. There was a slightly melancholic expression in his eyes now, as he stared into the fire.

“Why?” I inquired carefully. Kol chuckled, but this time it was a bitter and cheerless laugh.

“She isn’t really too keen on helping me. She still hates me because I broke her heart. Kind of ironic to talk with you about this right now… But I really thought she would have been over it after all these years.” he explained and again I was reminded that even though Kol looked like he was only a few years older than us, he had been dead for 14 years so most of his life had taken place before I was even born.

“What happened?” I asked him and for a second he hesitated. Then he sighed and took another sip of his whiskey.

“I guess it won’t hurt to tell you. Maybe you can even help me figure out a way to make it up to her…” he trailed off, then he smirked slightly.

“Now, this might come as a surprise to you, but I wasn’t always the perfect gentleman I am now.” He winked when I chuckled, then continued.

“Before I met Davina, I always viewed love as a tool to get what I wanted. I used to charm young witches and then manipulate them into doing anything for me. And it all started with this girl.” he admitted, looking at me unsure of my reaction. For a moment I felt a wave of anger rise in me on behalf of those girls. I couldn’t see a trace of remorse in Kol’s face. Then I reminded myself how dumb Ron and Harry sometimes were when it came to understanding emotions. Maybe he simply hadn’t realized what he was doing to the girls back then? And anyway, it wasn’t really my place to judge him for what he did years ago. Plus, he was trying to make it right now, wasn’t he? After he had been so supportive this evening, the least I could do was listen and try to help him with that. Besides, I was still horribly curious about the object he was looking for.

I threw him a small smile, showing him that it was okay to continue. He grinned.

“So a long, long time ago, there was an evil witch.” he started his story, grinning at me teasingly and I giggled at his antics.

“Anyway, that witch was my dear mother and she placed a curse on me that made it impossible for me to use magic. And then, before I could convince her to undo it, my brother Nik killed her.” he told me calmly. I was already rendered speechless. That was one hell of a messed up family. Kol noticed my shocked look and grinned at me reassuringly.

“It’s not that bad… I hated her because of that curse and it’s not like she stayed dead.” he told me casually and then continued.

“So back to the story. After Nik killed our mother, I spent a few years traveling with my siblings and we ended up in France. But losing my magic… it was horrible. I loved my magic and felt like a part of me was missing when it was gone and I just couldn’t stand it. So I tried to find ways to undo the curse. But it didn’t work.” He sounded sad reliving these memories and I could sympathise with him. I couldn’t image what it felt like losing one’s magic. Despite growing up as a muggle, now that I knew about my powers, I wouldn’t give them up for anything. Even though life might be easier that way.

“And then I heard about some brilliant wizards in Britain that I thought might be able to find a cure for the curse. So when my siblings left France and went to Italy, I came here. But I soon realized that because of the curse, most wizards wouldn’t even talk to me, much less try to help me.” He gritted his teeth at that and I could understand him. I too hated the arrogant, prejudiced attitude that some pureblood wizards showed to anyone who couldn’t do magic.

“So again, I was on my own and finally I found out about a very powerful magical object that I believed would help me find a way to undo the curse.” This again made me wonder what kind of object it was that Kol was looking for. I considered interrupting him to ask, but the way he phrased everything so carefully vague probably meant that he didn’t want to tell me. Whatever, I would find out on my own.

“The object belonged to a brilliant witch who already had refused to help me, so I didn’t bother asking again. Instead I tried to find out as much as I could about her and learned that she had a daughter who went to Hogwarts. So I rented a room here in Hogsmead and each time the girl left the castle grounds, I would _accidently_ bump into her. And who could really resist me for long?” He grinned confidently and I shook my head amused, even though I was taken aback by the careful and long-term planning he had apparently put into this. When he continued, Kol’s smirk disappeared.

“She fell in love with me and I told her all the things she wanted to hear. That I loved her. That she was the most important thing in my life. That I would do anything for her. That I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I even proposed to her.” He chuckled and I stared at him. _Seriously?!_ Now I felt bad for the girl again because he had so coldly manipulated her feelings for him. Still, I wasn’t sure how it had helped him.

“Of course she agreed to marry me. By now she had graduated from Hogwarts and lived in Hogsmead too and we started planning for our wedding. And that was when she realized that because of some other effects of the curse my mother put on me, we would never be able to spend our whole lives together, never be able to have children and that her mother would never let her marry me.” I was shocked. What kind of curse would have these kinds of effects? More importantly, what kind of mother would put such a horrible curse on her son?

“So then, she wanted to find a cure too but she couldn’t ask her mother for help, because we had kept our relationship secret from her the whole time. That was when I told her that I thought the magical object that belonged to her mother was the key to finding the counter-curse and convinced her to steal it for me.” He grinned at that and I stared at him. He made her steal from her own mother? Slowly I started to realize that Kol probably was much more calculated than his usual mischievous attitude let on. And if she found out about all of this, I couldn’t really blame the girl for not wanting to help Kol now.

“After she brought the object to me, I made us dinner and put some sleeping draught into her food. And while she was asleep I took the object, packed all of my things and went to-“ He hesitated for a second, apparently not wanting to tell me. “I went far away, to another country. There I tried to use the object to find a cure for the curse and it actually told me about a cure, created by a powerful witch two thousand years ago. But before I could find it, the girl found me. After she realized I had just manipulated her she was furious and she decided to follow me. She was using a spell I had taught her to track the magical object, so I decided to hide it. I charmed another witch into helping me put powerful magical wards around the hiding place that I thought no one beside of me would be able to break and then I left the country.” he ended his story and I sat there, stunned for a moment, digesting it all. That was – horrible!

“What happened to the girl?”

“She… Her mother sent some wizard who was in love with her to follow us and bring her home.” Somehow he seemed angry at that. Why? Angry that someone else got to be with her?

“So that object – which you were so angry about that Voldemort stole it – was actually the one you manipulated that girl to steal for you from her mother?” I asked him for clarification. He didn’t really have much of a reason to be angry at Voldemort then!

Kol only shrugged sheepishly.

“I was desperate… I couldn’t cope with that curse… It was slowly turning me insane – like, literally. And I didn’t really care about anything anymore. Until I met Davina, I never knew what it felt like to love someone so deeply, so I just didn’t think much about hurting that girl’s feelings.” he told me and my expression turned softer at that. He really seemed to love this Davina now and from what I knew of the curse it did sound horrible. That brought me back to another question.

“So you found it? The cure?” I asked him and he chuckled.

“I looked for ages and found out that getting the cure would be really dangerous. And by then I had pretty much accepted the curse and decided not to try to find another way and so I left that object where it was, until Dumbledore suddenly wanted me to find it.” He shrugged and I looked at him confused.

“But… you’re able to use magic  now!” I pointed out the obvious and he grinned.

“Yes, but this is not my real body.” he told me matter-of-factly, as if that was obvious. I stared at him.

“What?” I stumbled out, completely baffled. That was possible?! Kol chuckled again.

“I died. And then my mother brought my soul back and put it into this body, which happens to be the body of a warlock.” he explained and now I was even more confused.

“Your mother? Didn’t you say your brother Nik killed her?! And I thought your girlfriend brought you back?” Kol seemed to be really amused by my confusion and shook his head grinning.

“My mother used that opportunity to bring herself as well. And then Nik killed her again and I died again and then, fourteen years later, Davina brought me back again. And she decided to conserve this body from rotting rather than trying to restore my real body. So now I can use magic as you so very cleverly deducted.” he told me smirking and I finally gave up trying to make sense of that and shook my head.

“So, any idea how I can get her to help me find the object again? Dumbledore is convinced it is here in the castle somehow, but nobody can find it. But if I can get another thing that belonged to her mother, I might be able to track it with the spell she used to find me.” he explained.

“I- I don’t really think she will ever give you something else that belonged to her mother…” I answered him hesitantly, not really sure if I wanted to help him at all. What he had done to her was terrible! And he wasn’t even trying to make up with her because he felt guilty, he only wanted to use her to get his hands back on that object he made her steal.

Kol had noticed my hesitation and quickly talked again.

“Hermione? It’s really important that I find this object, okay? I’m not doing this for me. I never would have even looked for this object ever again. But Dumbledore thinks that without it, we have no chance of killing Voldemort.” he told me casually. He really didn’t seem to care about this very much any more. Not that he seemed to care very much about defeating Voldemort either… Finally I shook my head, snapping me out of my mistrust of Kol. Why was I even thinking about this? Of course I would do anything to help defeat Voldemort!

“Sure, uhm… I’ll try to think of something. But it might take some days or something, we need a really good idea here.” I told him smiling and he grinned.

“Thanks, Hermione.” he told me cheerfully, raising his glass again and nodding to me thankfully before drinking another sip. I raised my glass too and when I did, my gaze fell on the bracelet he had made to help me and I thought about how he had comforted and tried to cheer me up tonight. He wasn’t that heartless, manipulative guy anymore. He was different now. And everyone deserved a second chance, didn’t they?

“Hey, Kol? Remember how you made Fred’s pumpkin juice explode in his face?” I suddenly asked him and he looked questioningly at me, confused about the sudden change of topic.

“Sure, what about it?”

“Can you teach me how to do that to Lavender and Ron?” I asked him grinning and instantly he started grinning too, a mischievous look appearing on his face.

“Oh Hermione Granger, I can teach you much better tricks than that!”


End file.
